To the Sky!
by onepiece fanatic
Summary: Sequel to Feathered Nakama. Luffy and crew were almost smashed by a ship falling from the sky, and Luffy decides to go to Sky Island. Sound familiar? But there's a new nakama involved this time. paperclip fanfic, full summary on my profile. R&R please!
1. Falling Ships

Author's Note: It will be easier to understand this if you have read "Feathered Nakama", prequel to this. Just a suggestion!

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece, never will, yadda yadda yadda

Chapter 1: Falling Ships

Seagulls cried out high in the sky. They circled around the sun peacefully, calling out to one another. Below them lay the vast ocean of the Grand Line, the most dangerous ocean in the world. A sail snapped in the breeze, and a Jolly Roger with a straw hat grinned on the mainsail. Below, there were sounds of a commotion…

"Quit your damn kicking, Love-Cook!"

"Shut up you shitty Marimo-head!"

"OI! Luffy, how dare you run right into me when I'm not expecting it!"

"Sorry, Hoshi, I wasn't looking where I was going!"

"Damn right you weren't!"

"What the hell am I doing in here?! OUCH! Don't pull my nose!"

Confused shouting came from inside a dust cloud that was moving around in crazy patterns across the deck of the Going Merry. Bits and pieces of bodies all hitting each other blindly could be glimpsed, including two, pure-white wings.

Robin watched the cloud crazily go this way and that and chuckled softly. It seemed that she had chosen the right ship to stow away on when the crew escaped Arabasta a couple weeks ago.

Hoshi was a cheerful 17-year-old with jet black hair that reached only to her earlobes. She wore a black T-shirt over long black pants that hugged her legs yet allowed freedom of movement. The crew had found her out in the middle of the ocean… or more, she had found _them. _Hoshi was a genetic experiment of the World Government. Her DNA was comprised of both human and phoenix genes, and the result was a being who had wings and had command over the wind. She had escaped from a laboratory somewhere, and had been on the run for several years. Flying over the ocean, she was going to fall into the sea out of exhaustion… but she had actually fallen into the crow's nest of the Going Merry, and had been taken in by the crew.

The dust cloud died down as little bits of debris started falling from the sky.

"What IS this?" Usopp asked.

"It's not rain…" Sanji answered.

"It's a Mystery Rain!" Luffy shouted excitedly. Everyone in the crew sweatdropped. As expected from the crazy captain…

When the source of the 'Mystery Rain' was revealed, panic broke out on board.

"A SHIP!! FALLING FROM THE SKY!!" Usopp screamed.

No one had any more time to do more than gape as the ship crashed into the ocean about three meters from the Merry.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Zoro yelled as the ship rose and fell sharply with the waves. "DON'T LET GO OF THE SHIP!!"

As if anyone was going to do that… Luffy had sort of wound himself around the mast, but Hoshi was having a really hard time because her wings kept catching the wind and she wasn't able to pull them in under these conditions.

The main wave that had come with the impact was now gaining on the Merry. Usopp's eyes went super wide. "A dream, a dream, this HAS to be a dream!" he muttered to himself.

Hoshi screamed, and Zoro saw her torn away from the ship by a particularly savage gust of wind. Unable to control her flight, she was knocked about before being pushed into the oncoming wave.

"HOSHI!" he yelled. He growled, disgusted at his helplessness… but Hoshi wasn't helpless either, she was able to swim… Robin's eyes were wide, and she thought that she had forgotten how to breathe.

"Zoro! It's okay! Hoshi can take care of herself!" Luffy tried to reassure Zoro.

"Oi, Luffy, we have to protect the ship!" Sanji yelled.

"Yosh, got it!" Luffy responded. He looked up. "Usopp?"

Usopp was sitting in the middle of the deck. He was sitting cross-legged and he had a serene look on his face. "To ease one's fears, be calm and close your eyes. Then slowly lift your eyelids." Usopp followed his own instructions. "See? A nice, quiet- EYAAAAAHHH!!" A skull fell in front of Usopp's face as he opened his eyes. "A SKELETON!!"

"MORON!" yelled Nami as the skeleton flew towards her. "Don't throw it over here!"

"There's still more coming down! Everybody be careful!" Sanji yelled.

"A SKELETON!!" Usopp screamed.

When things settled down, the Straw Hats were staring at the underside of a huge ship that had just fallen out of the sky.

"Why'd a ship fall out of the sky!?" Luffy exclaimed.

"It's a total mystery," Sanji muttered.

Usopp and Chopper hugged each other, trembling.

Zoro was at the banister, looking out over the floating debris. Suddenly, the figure he had been looking for broke the surface of the water, coughing and gasping, about twenty meters away.

"Hoshi!" he called. She stopped spitting out water and saw Zoro waving to her. She waved back cheerfully, in a "yes I did get knocked overboard, and yes I did almost drown, but now everything is good" sort of way.

"D-damn, the G-grand Line is wa-ay t-too s-sc-scary," Usopp stuttered.

Hoshi swam back to the ship and climbed aboard. She briskly shook her wings out, then her hair, spraying water everywhere within a two meter radius of herself. As she did, Nami screamed.

"T-the Log Post!" she shrieked. "It's… it's broken!"

"WHAT?!"

Everyone gathered around to look. Sure enough, the Log Post was pointing straight upwards, and it wasn't moving any other direction. Nami shook her wrist a few times, but the Log Post remained in its position. Robin smiled when she saw Nami's face.

"Kokashi-san, that Log Post is not broken. The direction of that Log Post has changed because it has been attracted by a strong magnetic force from an island in the direction it is pointing. The Log has been taken by Sky Island," she informed Nami.

"SKY ISLAND?" everyone yelled.

"Are you saying that there's an island in the sky?!" Nami exclaimed.

Luffy had stars in his eyes.

"But you can't see an island from here," Zoro pointed out, scanning the sky for anything that resembled an island.

"No… I think that there's an ocean in the sky," Robin replied.

"A SEA!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all had stars in their eyes now.

"This gets harder and harder to take in," Sanji muttered.

"So there's an ocean in the sky with an island on it! LET'S GO! HARD TURN SKYWARD!" Luffy yelled.

Robin sweatdropped and sprouted two hands to clap over Luffy's mouth.

"There's no way we can turn the helm to the sky, Captain," Sanji informed Luffy as he thrashed on the ground.

Robin continued. "To tell the truth, I've never seen Sky Island, and don't know much about it…"

"Of course!" Nami exclaimed. "Islands and seas floating in the sky… it's all impossible!"

"There's no such word on the Grand Line," Hoshi told Nami, perching in her soaking wet clothes on the banister, bouncing her heels off rail.

"Hoshi is right, Kokaishi-san. What you should think about now is not how to fix a broken Log Post, but how we are going to get up to the sky," Robin told an annoyed Nami. "Do not doubt the Log Post. That is the iron-clad rule when traveling on this sea."

"An island in the sky!? AMAZING! Let's go!" Unexpectedly, this remark did not come from Luffy, but from Hoshi. She grinned as the crew turned to look at her. "It'll be so much fun!" Sanji, Zoro, and Nami sweatdropped.

Robin kneeled down and examined the skeleton that had freaked out Usopp. Picking up the shattered skull, she took out a pair of tweezers and began to piece it back together.

"Urgh Robin, you have some weird hobbies," Nami commented.

Chopper hid on the wrong side of the mast, shuddering as he watched Robin put it back together.

"The comparison of a beautiful body and a deceased one is quite quaint in itself!" Sanji swooned.

Zoro glanced around the deck, and noticed something. "Oi, where'd Luffy go?"

Everyone looked on the deck. Luffy had disappeared. "Hey, come to think of it, Usopp's not here too," Chopper pointed out.

"He went over there," Sanji said, jabbing her thumb over his shoulder. Scanning the direction he pointed, the crew could make out two figures jumping around inside the ship still floating on the water.

"What're they up to now?" Zoro grumbled.

"Something crazy?" Hoshi suggested. Zoro groaned. "Maybe they're looking for something fun!" she said, her face breaking into a smile. Zoro felt his stomach drop.

"Nami! Do you have some spare clothes I can borrow?" Hoshi called, jumping lightly off the banister.

"Sure Hoshi! Come into my room, and we'll find you something," Nami replied.

Two minutes later, Hoshi came out of Nami's room in dry clothes. She was dressed in a black T-shirt with three stars embroidered onto one shoulder ("Just like your name!" Nami had exclaimed), and a pair of long, dark-brown pants. (Who would think that Nami owned long pants?!) Robin had finished putting the skull back together, and began to explain what she had figured out.

"This man was in his thirties when he died." Touching some holes in his skull, she continued. "These holes were artificially made."

"Oh… so someone skewered him through the head and he died?" Sanji asked, kneeling down for a closer look.

"No, this is the result of some medical treatment, am I correct Isha-san?" Robin asked Chopper, still hiding on the wrong side of the mast.

"Yes, it is. They used to bore holes in the skull to take out brain tumors… but that's a really archaic method," he confirmed.

"At least two hundred years have passed. He was in his early thirties when he died. During the voyage, he collapsed and died," Robin said. "His teeth, compared to the rest of his bones, are in the best shape. They were most likely coated in tar, a old practice in a specific region of South Blue. At that point in history, any voyages out onto this ocean would have been exploratory voyages." Robin disappeared into the cabin for a moment and came out with… a book. She flipped through it for a moment, before stopping at a certain page. "See? The Bliss Kingdom in South Blue. That ship, St. Bliss, originated from there. It sailed 208 years ago."

An illustration of the ship that had fallen from the sky took up a large portion of the page.

"Wow. We found that all out just by looking at a skull!" Nami exclaimed.

"Skeletons have lost only the power to speak. They are still full of information," Robin replied with a smile. "Also, if that was an exploratory vessel, then there must be documents and papers with information about the voyage still on the ship."

"But… that ship is sinkin- AH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Nami yelled. The ship had sunk completely, leaving Usopp and Luffy thrashing in the water.

"SABE B-BEE! (Save me!)" Luffy yelled.

"Hang on Luffy!" Usopp was screaming.

Hoshi broke out in laughter at the silly pair, and Zoro felt his stomach drop again, taking his chest along for the ride.

When Luffy, soaking wet, had gotten back onto the ship, he held up a piece of paper excitedly. "Look at this! Look, look!" he said.

The crew turned and looked. "A MAP OF SKY ISLAND?!"

He handed it to Nami, who looked over it with a critical eye. "Skypia? So there really is an island in the sky?" she asked herself.

"YATTA!" Hoshi, Usopp, and Luffy all linked arms and started dancing around the ship as Chopper danced on their shoulders. "WE DID IT! THERE'S AN ISLAND IN THE SKY! SKY ISLAND DOES EXIST! A DREAM ISLAND! WE'RE GOING TO A DREAM ISLAND!" they sang at the top of their lungs.

Hoshi felt so happy! The first adventure that she would have with her new nakama was going to be so much fun!!

Sky Island! Hoshi's first adventure with her new nakama is promising to be an exciting one. How will her presence affect this adventure? Review please! I want to know if people will like this, or if I should just write up a brand new adventure and not tie Hoshi in with the original story.


	2. Salvaging Monkeys?

Author's Note: Yatta! I love writing this 'cause it give me an excuse to rewatch One Piece. :-D BUT!! I'M NOT POSTING ANYTHING MORE UNTIL YOU ALL TELL ME IF THIS IS A GOOD IDEA, OR IF I SHOULD KEEP WRITING THIS STORY. SHOULD I KEEP GOING, OR START A NEW STORY WITH MY OWN STORYLINE? REVIEW AND TELL ME!

Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue

Chapter Two: Salvaging Monkeys?

Nami rained on the party. "It's too early to celebrate you know. There're a lot of fake maps in this world."

The celebrating foursome froze, and then shadows fell on their faces. They looked at Nami in desolation.

Nami sweatdropped. "Ah… sorry, sorry. That doesn't mean Sky Island DOESN'T exist," she hurriedly said. "But…" Nami punched the mast in frustration. "Listen Luffy, we can't get up there! I have no idea how to get up there!"

"You're the navigator, figure something out!" Luffy shot back.

Nami punched the mast some more while she continued shouting. "Oi, Nami, go easy on the ship," Usopp said.

"There are things that I can and can't do!" Nami screamed.

"Nami-chan is so cute when she's mad," Sanji sighed, little hearts coming out of his cigarette instead of smoke.

Hoshi leaned against the banister next to Zoro while Nami and Luffy continued to yell at one another. "So what do you think?" she asked him.

"Hmm? About what?"

"Sky Island! It's going to be a fun trip, don't you think?"

"Definitely's going to be interesting."

"I bet there's going to be a whole ton of adventures just waiting up there for us." Hoshi kicked the banister with her heels in excitement and laughed. "I can't wait!"

"Yeah, I guess… It'll be fun. Stuff like this always turns out to be an adventure, especially when Luffy's involved," Zoro replied.

"Why Luffy? What's wrong with him?" Hoshi asked, genuinely confused.

"EVERYTHING," Zoro emphasized. "From his crazy dream to his simple-minded brain… half the time I don't know why we follow this guy."

"What? Why don't you know?"

"Because the other half of the time, I don't bother to define why I do. It's something you get used to, being on this ship." Hoshi mulled it over. It really was true, when you put it that way.

"Well, I can't wait to go to Sky Island! It's going to be GREAT!" she said with a huge smile lighting up her face. She smiled at Zoro, who felt his face getting hot. He was scrambling around for something to say, but was saved from having to answer by Luffy flying into him, sporting a Nami-fist-shaped dent in his face. Both of them fell overboard. Hoshi's eyes widened, and then she pulled out her wings and flew down. Plucking them both out of the water, she threw them back up on deck, with some difficulty because she was laughing so hard.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Nami raged once everyone was back on deck. "What we need now is information! If that giant ship was really in the sky, then there's a way for our ship to get up there too," she informed the crew.

"But all the stuff in the ship sank with it," Hoshi pointed out. "Any useful information is sitting on the bottom of the ocean."

Nami punched one fist into the air. "If the ship's sunk, we'll salvage it!"

"YOSHA!" Usopp and Luffy yelled. Usopp held a fishing pole and Luffy had a net.

"YOU CAN'T USE THOSE!" Zoro yelled. "Morons," he muttered to himself. Hoshi laughed.

"Salvage?" asked Chopper, looking towards Robin. "What's that?"

Robin answered, "It's a method of bringing up sunken ships. But we can't salvage THAT ship. It's too big."

Chopper looked confused. "Then what do we do?"

Nami chuckled with an evil little grin on her face.

Later, Hoshi, Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy were all inside barrels with windows and gloves. Luffy's was a special one that had pants to protect him from the seawater, and was chuckling.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, you make us do some pretty crazy things," he told Nami.

"NAMI-SWAN! I am absolutely going to find you a clue on Sky Island!" said the third barrel from the right. Hoshi could guess which barrel Sanji was in.

"I'm counting on all of you!" Nami told them.

"Don't worry about a thing," Usopp said. "My design is flawless."

"Yosh! Let's go!" said Hoshi.

Right before they jumped, a huge snake came out of the ocean and ate one of the birds flying twenty meters above the ship. There was a moment of frozen silence.

"Okay then, see you all," Nami said. Her last words were "We'll be praying for you."

They jumped. The air tubes connecting them to the surface doubled as speakers too, so it wasn't long before Chopper sent down the first message as he held the brake. "This is Chopper. Are you guys alright? Over."

The speaker on the far right answered first. "This is Luffy. There're sure a lot of monsters down here. Over."

"This place is a Sea Snake nest!" Zoro said.

"This is Sanji. Zoro's right, this really is- whoa! They're looking at us!"

"This is Hoshi. It's so cool down here! There must be a million Sea Snakes!"

"Okay." Nami nodded gravely.

Usopp's eyes were so wide, the veins were poking out. "H-how is that alright?" he asked.

"They can handle it. They'll all be just fine, don't worry. Chopper, hold the brake tight, okay?"

"Roger."

Usopp wiped his sweaty forehead. "Man, I am so glad I didn't go."

Robin smiled. She had gotten a bad shock when Hoshi had been washed overboard. Funny how she had been more worried when Hoshi was washed overboard than when her unspoken charge was going straight towards a nest of giant Sea Snakes…

Hoshi looked at the Sea Snakes swimming in a tight knot below her. She smiled to herself as she watched them swim. Gliding beneath her, scales shimmering in the sunlight reflected through the water's surface, they were truly magnificent creatures. They actually didn't give the group too much trouble… on the other hand, the Sea Snakes just watched them as the four kept going downwards. Hoshi waved at them. _Thanks!_ she told them silently.

When they reached the ship, they split up to explore more. Hoshi looked around the room she had chosen. There wasn't much here in terms of information… a couple skeletons and broken vases. She found a small box, but when she wrestled with the old and rusted iron lock and opened it, there was nothing inside but a feather. Disappointed, she went and looked for the others.

She came upon Zoro looking thoughtfully at some rusty swords on the wall. But when he tried to draw them, they stuck. When he actually got the sword out, it fell apart. He looked so funny in a barrel with a broken sword in one hand (not to mention an octopus that had taken up residence on the top of his barrel) that Hoshi started laughing. Zoro looked around and when he saw who it was, he felt his face getting hot again.

By unspoken agreement, they went and found Luffy and Sanji just as the pair found another box. Hoshi noticed that it was extremely similar to the one she had found. Zoro wrenched a harpoon out of the wall and sort of poked at the lock. The lock came apart easily, and inside the box… was yet another feather. Hoshi narrowed her eyes. One box just for a random feather… she could accept that someone person on the ship was exceptionally eccentric. Two boxes, both with single feathers in them, was definitely worth thinking about.

Suddenly, a hook came in through the wall… a GIANT hook. The whole ship shook at the impact, and from the sound of things, it wasn't the only hook that was being inserted into the ship.

"What the hell!" Luffy exclaimed.

Sanji and Zoro instinctively took defensive stances and growled.

Hoshi ground her teeth. If an enemy came now, she was unable to summon any weapons in her current situation, and her movements were hampered by the barrel that held her air… basically, this was the worst time for an enemy to come.

The hook started vibrating, and Hoshi braced herself… but all that came out was a huge bubble of air. A HUGE bubble. Hoshi could conclude that the bubble was big enough to have filled the whole ship, because with yet more rumbling, the ship started floating back towards the surface.

As the ship continued to make its way up, beings in strange suits suddenly flooded the ship. Luffy, Sanji, Hoshi, and Zoro instinctively started to beat them all up. It didn't really take that long, as there weren't too many of them.

"Look! We can take of the barrels!" Luffy said, slipping off his own barrel and crouching on top of it. The rest of them followed suit, though they were content to stand on the floor.

"Whoever's trying to lift this thing sure pumped in lots of air… but who's doing it?" Zoro asked.

"Oi Zoro, the octopus is still on you," Hoshi commented. Surprised, Zoro glanced at his shoulder… and found she was right. The pink octopus seemed to like him.

"Nothing better have happened to Nami-san and Robin-chan… I tried calling them, but they wouldn't answer!" Sanji curled his body into a ball. "What if something happened to them!?"

Hoshi looked at Sanji strangely. Sanji's body was actually in a sphere shape, and started to roll around the floor. He looked like a ball with a yellow circle. Zoro had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen next. Hoshi didn't know an evil smile was creeping onto her face as she kept thinking… ball… ball… ball…

She picked up the Sanji-ball and started twirling him on her index finger, basketball style. Zoro and Luffy laughed themselves silly, and laughed even harder when Sanji broke his position, fell off Hoshi's finger, and fell on the floor.

"Dammit Hoshi, what was that for?" Sanji raged.

"Sorry Sanji-kun," Hoshi apologized, struggling to keep a straight face. "Instinct!"

"What the hell is instinct like that goi-"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

One of the walls broke, and a giant, talking monkey came barging in.

"Who's trying to muscle in on my turf!?" the monkey roared.

"Ah, it's a monkey," Luffy commented.

Hoshi thought this obvious, but then the monkey blushed. "Do… do I really look that monkeyed up?" he asked.

"Yeah… you look just like a monkey," Luffy repeated.

Hoshi walked up to the monkey and examined his face closely. "Yes, you do look exactly like a monkey," she said seriously, before her composure broke and she laughed along with the both of them.

"What sort of a conversation is this?" Zoro grumbled.

"What d'ya mean?" Luffy asked. Hoshi sweatdropped.

"Oh by the way, who are you?" Sanji asked the monkey. Hoshi looked the monkey over a second time. Obnoxious overalls, obnoxious sunglasses, obnoxious teeth, obnoxious headphones, obnoxious attitude… Hoshi mentally classified the monkey-person under 'obnoxious'.

"How careless of me!" the monkey cried. "But do you seriously think so? Do I look that monkeyed up? You have an eye for quality!"

"No, seriously, you look exactly like a monkey!" Luffy said, and the both of them inexplicably started laughing like maniacs.

"Hey, we asked you who you were!" Zoro cut in.

"It's polite to give your own names first though!" the monkey laughed.

"I'm Monkey D Luffy, the man who's going to become Pirate King!"

"First-class cook, Sanji."

"Roranora Zoro."

"Experi- I mean, Hoshi."

"Nice to meet you all! So where do you come from?" the monkey asked.

"We sailed from East Blue!" Luffy answered him.

"Oh I see, you all come from East Blue!"

"That's right! But really man, you look exactly like a monkey!" Luffy laughed.

"He's right! You look EXAAACTLY like a monkey!" Hoshi chuckled.

"Damn, this again," Zoro muttered.

"Aww, you guys are just saying that!"

"Seriously dude! You do!" Hoshi's bell-like laugher filled the cabin. "You really do!"

Zoro tuned out the conversation, and thought about Hoshi. When World Government ships had once attacked them to get Hoshi, they had found out that Hoshi was part phoenix. _Maybe that's why her laughing sounds the way it does_, Zoro mulled. He made a mental note to find out more about phoenixes, when the ship reached the surface.

Monkeys, ships falling from the sky, Sea Snakes… Hoshi's first adventure with her new nakama is turning out to be quite something indeed! Now that the salvaged ship is reaching the surface, what will the result be? Will the crew really actually get to the sky? It seems unlikely with this team...

Not posting the next chapter till I get some reviews that tell me if you think that this is a good idea or not! Should I ditch this story and write up a new adventure for Luffy and the crew? I'M NOT POSTING ANYTHING UNTIL I GET MORE OPINIONS!


	3. Monsters and Giants

Author's Note: Thanks to those who reviewed, I will continue this story!

Disclaimer: No, don't own One Piece, how many times do I have to say it?!

Chapter 3: Monsters and Giants

From the ship, Nami and Usopp were screaming as something huge broke the surface of the water. It was a gigantic turtle… like REALLY big. The Going Merry looked like a pea next to it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Usopp yelled.

"What is it?" Nami screamed. "Is it a continent?!"

"I don't know! It's just a dream, just a dream! I don't see a thing!" Usopp sang.

"A dream? Really?" Chopper asked.

"Oh thank goodness, it's only a dream," they all said simltaniously. The started to walk away.

"Oh my," Robin commented. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper tensed up. "Those four were all just eaten along with the ship."

"DON'T SAY THAT IN SUCH A CALM VOICE!" Usopp screamed, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"But their air hoses are coming out of its mouth," Robin pointed out.

Chopper shrank into his little form in midair, his eyes wide. "I'd say that decides it," Robin continued.

"St…op!" Usopp moaned.

Chopper ran back and forth across the deck, screaming. "LUFFY AND THE OTHERS GOT EATEN!!"

"This is all YOUR fault!" Usopp told Nami. "YOU made them go to the bottom of the GRAND LINE! You said it would be OKAY when you had NO PROOF and now they're…!"

Nami hunched over. "You're right," she said gravely.

Usopp blinked. Chopper actually stopped screaming to stare at Nami. Nami was actually taking responsibility for her actions!?

Nami stood and looked at the turtle. She held up her hand. "SORRY!" she called. She crossed her arms and said, "Okay, I'm clear."

Usopp and Chopper fell down.

Suddenly, the turtle shifted a bit, stretching the air hoses and making the ship lean to one side. Everybody fell against the banister except for Robin.

"We need to cut their air hoses, or we'll be completely helpless," Robin commented as she leaned to keep her balance. "It's going to drag our ship underwater."

"But Robin! You're strong, right!?" Usopp cried. "Can't you do something!?"

"I can't. It's too big."

Both the salvager's ship and the Going Merry were starting to lean dangerously to one side now.

The salvager's ship's crew yelled out. "Yosh! Everyone! Reel in the ropes! Boss is still alive in there!"

"AYE!!!"

Usopp listened, and something flashed through his mind. "That's right!" he said to himself. "Times like this are when a crew's loyalty is put to the test!"

"Usopp!" Nami called.

"Yeah?"

"CUT THE LINES AND TAKE US TO SAFETY!"

Usopp fell down again. "You're a devil!"

A cloud fell between the sun and the ships. That wasn't too unusual in itself… but this cloud was so thick that it turned day into night!

Chopper rubbed his eyes. "Am I dreaming?!"

"Impossible," Nami muttered. "It's not even close to evening yet."

"THEN WHAT IS IT! AHH! LUFFY! ZORO! SANJI! HOSHI!!" Usopp screamed.

Robin glanced over at the other ship. "Sudden nightfall is a bad omen, Captain!" one of the monkey's subordinates was yelling. "It means monsters will appear!! This ship's gonna be sunk!"

"Hurry and reel in the boss!"

Robin's attention was distracted when a lump came flying out of the water and landed on the deck.

"Luffy!" Nami yelled. She ran up to him and kneeled by his head. This might have been a tender gesture had she not started repeatedly smacking his face. "Oi! Luffy! What's wrong? Are you dead?"

Three hands grabbed the banister, and Zoro, Sanji, and Hoshi hurled themselves onboard. All four of them carried huge sacks on their backs.

"Ah! You all are alive!" Chopper said, tears of relief streaming down his cheeks.

"Set sail!" Zoro gasped. "We've got to get away from here!"

"That guy is trouble!" Sanji added.

Hoshi just swallowed air as fast as she could, aqua eyes livid.

"I'm so glad you all are alive!" Usopp said. "You're right! Let's just get the hell away from that turtle!"

"Turtle?" Hoshi asked. "What turtle?"

"There was no turtle," Zoro told Usopp. "There was this monkey in the ocean."

"Must be some sort of sea monster," Sanji muttered.

"After we picked up this stuff from the ship, he started rampaging," Hoshi explained. "He was really a weirdo."

"That weirdo is Masira, a salvager!" Usopp told them.

"Oh, that explains why the ship was filled with air," Zoro said.

"But it's amazing you all escaped from that turtle's mouth!"

"What turtle?!" Hoshi demanded.

Usopp looked at the big turtle. "Huh? The turtle's acting weird… it's just staring with it's mouth ope- Oh! I see! That's how you all escaped!"

Zoro, Hoshi, and Sanji all looked behind them for the first time. "AH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" they screamed simultaneously.

"NOTICE THESE THINGS!" Usopp yelled at them. "THAT THING ATE YOU WITH THE WHOLE SHIP!"

Luffy finally woke up. "Huh? Huh? What's going on? Why is it nighttime? Why is- AH!! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT TURTLE?!"

"Luffy come help!" Zoro yelled at him. "We're getting out of here!"

Hoshi had flown up the mast and was letting down the sails. "Luffy, hurry up! We've go-"

"HOLD IT!"

The monkey shot out of the water like a bullet and landed on their ship. "Don't think you're going to get away with barging onto Masira-sama's territory and stealing treasure!" he roared.

Nami's eyes sparkled. "Treasure!? You all found treasure!"

Luffy chuckled. "Yeah! There was a whole lot of it in the ship!"

Hoshi jumped off the mast, landing lightly on the deck. She quietly brought her whip to her hand behind her back.

_This is bad_, Zoro thought, reaching for his Maitou blade. _If he starts rampaging on the ship…_

Chopper was trembling with fear… but he was looking at something else other than the monkey. Robin paid Masira no heed as she watched the thing that Chopper was staring at.

"Boss!" they called from the other ship. "Boss!"

"What is it!?" Masira demanded irritably.

"O-over there!"

Everybody looked where the turtle was staring.

Everybody froze.

A gigantic shadow was rising out of the water. It was much bigger than the turtle… maybe six times as long as it. See how big it was? Now think as if that part of the shadow was only the thing's ankle.

There were five, spear-wielding giants standing out of the water, their shadows the only thing visible of them.

One of them began to raise its spear.

"MONSTERS!" Luffy screamed. "RUN AWAY!"

No ship could have caught the Going Merry at that moment. The ship flew across the water, rowed by its terrified occupants.

They reached the end of the cloud in record time, back into blazing sunlight.

Hoshi threw herself onto the deck, trembling. She had never been that scared in her life, but if it had come to a fight against one of those things, she had no doubt who would have won. Zoro looked over at her with concern. He would have said something if he had not been shaking badly himself.

After they had all calmed down a bit, Sanji lit his cigarette irritably, sitting on the ground. "Man, the Grand Line is just a big parade of one inexplicable thing after another," he said.

"Just today, a giant galleon falls down on us from the sky…" Zoro muttered.

"The Log Post's needle is pointing to Sky Island…" Nami continued.

"Some weird monkey comes and raises the ship…" Usopp gasped.

"Then a giant turtle came and gobbled up the ship…" Chopper said.

"Night falls in the middle of the day…" Robin sighed.

"And huge monsters way bigger than the giants at Little Garden appear!" Luffy yelled.

"Yeah, that was sure scary, I can tell you," Masira said.

Hoshi started laughing. "But it was so much fun!" she said between her laughs.

The crew looked at Hoshi and sweatdropped, before realizing something was wrong…

"GET OFF OUR SHIP!" Hoshi, Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy all roared. They circled him and kicked him. The combined force of four of the ship's fighters threw Masira into the air, and he flew… and flew… and flew… until he was a little star in the distance.

What exactly WERE those giants? Is there any hope of getting to the sky? Why does Hoshi think that almost getting killed by giants is fun? Is anything actually going to work out for the Straw Hats on this adventure?


	4. To Jaya!

Author's Note: Hoshi's song is the third opening to One Piece, "Hikari E" by The Babystars. IT'S NOT MINE.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Chapter Four: To Jaya!

Later, the Straw Hats were just letting the Going Merry sail, while still discussing the day's events.

"But really, those giants were sure big," Luffy exclaimed.

"I hope we never see them again," Nami said passionately.

Usopp and Chopper leaned on the banister. "But you know something Chopper…" Usopp said in a low voice.

Chopper looked up. "Yeah?"

"If I had been serious, I could have beaten those things."

"REALLY?" Chopper screamed, stars in his eyes.

"I've beaten ten of them once," Usopp said, looking over the sea as if this was something casual.

"TEN OF THEM?!"

"Liar," Hoshi said, coming up behind Usopp and bonking him on the head.

"What in the world did you guys bring back?!" Nami's voice echoed over the ship. Hoshi turned around to look at Nami.

She had opened the sacks, and their contents were strewn around her. Vases, old armor and weapons, and just random trinkets were lying around. The pink octopus had come for a ride too. Luffy was marching around in a full suit of armor, holding a rusty old sword in front of him.

"Just what were you looking for down there?! You just brought back a bunch of trash! There's not a single clue about how to get to the sky here!"

"There was nothing there though," Zoro told Nami.

"Really, there was absolutely nothing," Sanji said. "The ship looked like it had been attack, or else maybe a mutiny erupted for some reason and they all killed each other."

"That's EXACTLY why it's so important that we gather information!" Nami told them. Hoshi walked over and stood between Sanji and Zoro.

"But we can't find anything if there's nothing to be found in the first place!" she argued.

"Don't you get that if we go to the sky, whatever happened to that ship might happen to us?! Information means the difference between life and death here! What's with these rusty weapons? These vases and pots? And a live octopus!? We need journals and maps, that sort of stuff!" Nami yelled, proceeding to stomp on everything they had brought up.

"And what is that?" Nami asked, solidly placing herself in Luffy's path.

"Armor!" he replied cheerfully, raising his visor.

There was a boom.

"Sh-she smashed the armor!" Hoshi stuttered, a blue lines running down her forehead. Zoro just gaped.

"Look Nami-san! I brought you some pretty shells!" Sanji sang.

"I don't want them, you dork." Nami stomped across the deck.

Far from discouraging Sanji, he swooned all the more. "Ahhh… Nami-san is so cute when she's mad!"

Usopp waved his hand at Sanji. "Just give it up."

"Having a rough time?" Robin asked sympathetically as Nami stormed up the stairs.

"It's only going to get rougher… why am I surrounded by idots!?"

"But Nami," Hoshi tried, "we can't find anything that's not there to begin w-"

Nami screamed. "AHH! WHY DID I JOIN THIS CREW?!" she asked the sky.

Hoshi clapped her hands over her ears… but there was that question again. All the people in this crew seemed to question their sanity when they decided to join this crew at some point… so why did they join if they didn't know WHY they joined?

"Here," Robin held out something to Nami. "This should make your job a little easier."

"An Eternal Post?! Where did y-"

"I took it from those monkey's ship… just in case."

Nami hunched over the Eternal Post. "Something wrong, Kokaishi-san?" Robin asked.

Nami looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You… you're the only one I can depend on, Robin!"

"OI! This is a tako, right? (tako octopus) Let's make takoyaki!!" Luffy yelled.

"What's takoyaki?" Hoshi asked. Luffy gaped at her.

Robin sweatdropped. "Things are certainty stressful for you," she told Nami.

Nami sighed and looked at the name of the island inscribed on the Eternal Post. "Jaya? That must be their headquarters."

"Jaya?" Luffy asked, his mouth full of takoyaki. "Are we going there?"

"That's what YOU decide, dimwit!" Nami yelled at him.

"YOSH! HARD TURN TO JAYA!!" Luffy shouted. "… Nami, which way is it?"

"To starboard."

"Chopper, come help out!"

"Okay."

"Hoshi, can you man the sails?"

"Will do."

Usopp looked up from his takoyaki. "Hey, wait a second. If we go to that Jaya place, won't the Log change its course again? Which means… we won't be able to get to the sky!"

"EH!?" Chopper yelled.

"UNTURN TO JAYA!" Luffy shouted. "Oi, Nami, what was that for!?"

"What do you mean 'What was that for?'? You're the one who decided to turn to Jaya," Nami told him.

"Oh, you're right… but I didn't think that would happen!"

"Your fault for not thinking. That's how the Log Post has always been."

"Oh, you're right…"

"You know, Nami's right Luffy," Hoshi called from the mast.

"YOSH! EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" Luffy shouted. "I'm the captain, and I decide our course! And I want to go to Sky Island!"

"How do we do that?" Zoro asked. He was pumping some iron on the main deck.

"We should probably ask someone," Usopp said, his mouth full of takoyaki again.

"You're right," Luffy told him.

"Then how about Jaya?" Nami asked.

"Yosh! Hard turn to Jaya!" Luffy yelled.

"We already did that!" Usopp exclaimed, hitting Luffy on the head.

Hoshi sweatdropped. This conversation had gone around in a complete circle.

Robin blinked. "The Log won't change the instant we get there. We can just go and leave Jaya before it adapts to the new Log."

"We'll need a bit of luck," Nami murmured. Hoshi jumped off the mast and pointed to Luffy.

"That guy has all the dumb luck we need," she informed her.

Nami grinned. "You're right on that point."

"YOSH EVERYONE! We're going to the Land of Meat, Jaya!"

"AYE!" everyone responded.

"Quit dreaming!" Nami exploded at Luffy.

"I wonder what sort of place Jaya is," Chopper said.

"Robin-chan! Nami-san! Hoshi-chan! I've finished the never-before-seen ladies' takoyaki entrees!"

"OO! MORE TAKOYAKI!!"

"OI! DON'T EAT THE LADIES' SHARES LUFFY!"

Hoshi chuckled as Luffy ran around in circles, chasing Sanji around the mast. She leaned on the banister next to Zoro. "Things are starting to warm up," she informed him.

Zoro glanced at her. Her hair was blowing backwards with the wind, and her eyes were calm as she looked over the ocean. "It seems like it," he replied.

Hoshi felt music swelling in her. It grew, and she knew she had to let it out. She closed her eyes, and sang softly at first…

_Bokura iga sagashi hagimete_

_Mizushi buki ariete_

_Hatejima teuzuku setai e_

Zoro looked at her, and grinned. Her voice swelled and gained power, and the others heard it too.

_Afurejatsu jonetsu wo mune i_

_Doko mo demo miku yo_

_Mada miru hikari moto me_

Luffy laughed, and started dancing crazily to Hoshi's song. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper joined in.

_Naetu-iro taiyo ga_

_Kokoro no o yura seba_

_Atarashi e sekai eno_

_Tobira a hikaru aitzu_

_Namina ni yureteru_

_Zeteubo o nukete_

_Sudeieen no mukogouana_

_Mezashite!_

_Bokura iga sagashi hagimete_

_Mizushi Auki ariete_

_Hatejima teusuku setai e_

_Afurejatsu jonetsu wo mune i_

_Doko mo demo miku yo_

_Mada miru hikari moto me!_

"Amazing! Hoshi, you're a really good singer!" Luffy exclaimed.

Hoshi flushed, and then grinned widely. "Thanks!"

Robin smiled.

"Yosh, I've decided," Luffy said, crossing his arms across his chest. "You are officially our musician!"

Hoshi looked startled. This crew wanted to hear her sing? She could make music without them telling her to be quiet?! She started laughing. She laughed so hard, she clutched her belly and tears streamed out of her eyes. "Okay!" she said. "I accept!"

"YOSH, EVERYONE!" Luffy yelled. "ONWARD TO JAYA!"

"AYE!"

Hoshi's officially the crew's musician now! The crew's headed towards Jaya to find out how to get to the sky! What's going to happen next? Will they get to the sky?!


	5. Arrival in Mock Town

Author's Note: Whee, here we go! Chapter Five! I'm on a roll!

Disclaimer: hate posting these… no I don't own One Piece, get the point already!

Chapter Five: Arrival in Mock Town

"Oi, Usopp, do you see anything?" Luffy called.

"Nope, not a single thing," Usopp called down from the crow's nest.

"What about you Hoshi?"

"I don't see anything either," Hoshi yelled down. She was flying 40 meters above the ship, and scanning the sea below.

"Jaya's not that far, is it?" Zoro asked.

"Nope. The weather's stabilized, so it shouldn't be too much longer now."

"Jaya must be a Spring Island then," Luffy said, stretching out on his back on his special seat, watching Hoshi's figure fly above.

"It's so nice and warm," Chopper said, dozing on the deck. "Even the seagulls look happy…" he glanced up to three seagulls flying at Hoshi's height.

Suddenly, the seagulls fell onto the ship's deck.

"AH!! THEY'VE BEEN SHOT!" Chopper yelled.

"Oh! Let's have yaktori (grilled bird)!" Luffy exclaimed. He was just about to call Sanji when Hoshi screamed, started to fall from the sky. Red blood streamed behind her.

"Hoshi!" Luffy yelled. He ran and caught her before she hit the deck.

"Hoshi!" Zoro shouted, vaulting over the banister and running up to where Luffy placed her gently on the deck.

"Ah, dammit, that hurt," she growled, standing up. "My wing hurts like hell. What happened?" she asked.

"Sit! You've been shot, and I need to remove the bullet!" Chopper was panicking. "Judging from the angle you all were flying at, the bullets came from right in front of the ship!"

"From the island we haven't even sighted yet?" Nami asked sarcastically. "Chopper, that's impossible."

Hoshi winced, as Chopper removed the bullet from her wing. "See! A bullet! I was watching them the entire time!"

"Whoever that guy is would have to be an incredible marksman, have incredible eyesight, and have an incredible gun," Usopp laughed. "He probably just fired the bullets into the air and they happened to hit near here."

"Dammit, I won't be able to fly for the rest of today," Hoshi growled.

"NO! You have to take it easy for the next four days at least! That bullet tore your muscle and nicked your bone! You can't do something as reckless as flying that soon!" Chopper yelled.

"I have an abnormal regeneration speed, if you haven't realized," Hoshi retorted.

"I'm taking your regeneration speed into my calculations!" Chopper cried.

As the two continued to argue, Zoro looked Hoshi over. The fact that she was alright made his heart lift.

"Sanji, look! Seagulls, seagulls!" Luffy called.

"I'm coming already," Sanji said irritably.

About two hours later, they had caught sight of the island, and were now fast approaching.

"Nice! This town looks friendly!" Luffy called, perching on his special seat.

"Is it just me, or does it look like a resort!?" Usopp yelled in excitement.

"Resort?!" Chopper echoed, stars shining.

"Really!? Hurry Merry!" Luffy said, slapping the figurehead fondly.

"It really does look like a resort. It makes me feel like kicking back and relaxing for a while," Nami murmured as they pulled into port.

Hoshi scrambled up the rigging and stood on the mast. She looked over the ships already in the harbor. "Is it just me, or are all the ships pirate ships?" she called down.

"Oh, stop it Hoshi! What sort of town would let all these ships anchor right here in the harbor if they were pirate ships?" Nami called up.

"But they do!" Hoshi insisted.

"Just forget it Hoshi!" Usopp called.

Hoshi sighed, and looked at the ships again.

Ten minutes later, Luffy, Zoro, and Hoshi set out to explore the town.

"There sure a lot of different people here!" Luffy said.

"Seems like a fun town," Zoro grinned.

"I still don't like the atmosphere," Hoshi grumbled.

Nami watched them go. "Not good," she said to herself. "Do we honestly think that those three could make it back without causing trouble?"

"Well… this place looks pretty rough to begin with. I'd say the chances of that are pretty damned slim," Usopp replied.

"You're right! This is NOT GOOD!" Nami jumped off the ship.

"OI! LUFFY! ZORO! HOSHI! WAIT UP!"

"She left," Chopper commented.

"Well, she'll be alright if she's with those three…" Usopp said to himself.

Sanji stepped up to the banister. "Wherever Nami-san goes, I shall follow- OI!"

He was attacked by a long-nose and a reindeer pinning him to the mast. "PLEASE DON'T GO!" they cried.

"If the sh-ship gets at-attacked, then who's going to p-protect us?!" Usopp demanded.

"Fine, I got it, let go of me! I guess I can make some tea and spend time wi- huh? Where'd Robin-chan go?"

"She's… gone." Chopper said.

"Sanji-kun, tea?" Usopp asked.

"Get it yourself."

Nami had caught up to the troublesome trio, and was making them recite a promise.

Luffy was first. "While in this town, I promise to get aw-"

Nami pulled his face. "'I promise not to fight.'"

Nami made Zoro and Hoshi repeat it too, then said "Good, now is that the truth you guys?"

"Yeah," said all three simultaneously.

"What's with those unenthusiastic answers?" Nami asked.

A man with a weird face fell to the ground in front of them.

"Ah. The ossan fell off of his horse," Hoshi commented.

"Fell straight off," Zoro agreed.

"He fell," Luffy acknowledged.

The man made some gargling noises.

"It looks like he's in pain," Hoshi said.

"In pain," Zoro agreed.

"I'm hungry," Luffy said.

"Oh, I'm sorry good folk," the man warbled. "Could you help me get up?"

Zoro sweatdropped. "You just don't feel like getting up yourself," he told the man.

The man groaned.

"Luffy, get that side," Zoro sighed.

"Got it."

They threw the man back onto his horse with no particular care.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," the man sighed. "I'm back on. I was born with a weak body. Now, let's be off, Stronger," he said, addressing his horse.

The horse fell to its knees.

"The horse too?" Hoshi exclaimed.

"Geez, what a bother," Zoro grumbled as he and Luffy pushed the horse back up.

"Thank you very much. I'd like to repay you with this," the man said, holding out a basket of apples. Hoshi's hackles rose.

"That's way too suspicious, dammit," Zoro told the man.

"Oh! Apple-chan! Thanks!" Luffy said, taking one.

"OI!" Zoro yelled, his eyes popping out.

Luffy bit.

There was an explosion. A BIG explosion. Confused yelling was heard.

"What happened?"

"A guy took some apples from weird ossan, and the apples exploded!"

Luffy swallowed his bite. Nami grabbed his neck. "OI! SPIT THAT OUT RIGHT NOW!" she screamed, choking him.

"But I already swallowed it," Luffy choked.

Hoshi pulled out her whip, and Zoro grabbed his Maitou. "Damn bastard, what are you trying to pull!?" Hoshi demanded.

"No, he'll be fine," the man grinned. "Your friend is lucky. He picked a dud… or else he would have been dead on the first bite."

Nami dragged all three of them away. Hoshi choked, the front of her T-shirt strangling her.

Zoro noticed, and immediately told Nami to put them all down. She complied by dropping them. "Honestly, what's wrong with this town?" she asked the air in front of her. Hoshi coughed a couple times, then ran to catch up.

"You alright?" Zoro asked.

"Yup, I'm fine," Hoshi grinned.

"C'mon Nami, don't be so upset," Luffy said casually.

She narrowed her eyes. "Do you realize you almost got killed for no reason?"

"Well it happens," Luffy said in the same tone.

Nami's eyes widened. "And that's ALRIGHT, is it?" she shouted, grabbing the cuff of Luffy's shirt.

"UUUWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!"

The shout rang over the street. It took Hoshi a moment to realize it wasn't anyone in pain, but a weird man yelling from the top of a roof. The four looked at him for a second, and then continued on their way.

A pair was talking about that man.

"He's at it again?"

"How many victims does that make now? 42?"

"I don't know who he is, and I don't want to know. That wrestling champion…"

Luffy, Hoshi, and Zoro stopped dead in their tracks. "Champion?"

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO COMPETITIVE?" Nami yelled.

She hit all of them on their heads, and dragged them away once again.

"I'm starting to wonder if it's possible to find ANY information in this town!" she growled.

"How about here?" Zoro asked as they arrived at a fancy hotel.

"Ah… it looks like there's nothing going on," Luffy said.

"It's pretty though," Hoshi commented.

"You're right… this place is wonderful!" Nami exclaimed.

"OH! Oh, oh, oh, good sirs!"

They all looked towards the sound of the voice. There was a man who appeared to be the hotel keeper coming towards them. "Please, I respectfully ask you to leave! The Tropical Hotel is being completely rented out by the Bellamy Party! Therefore, we must ask all other sirs to leave!

If Bellamy-sama saw you all here, there would be terrible trouble!"

"But we can at least look around, right? We're not going to break into their rooms or anything," Hoshi asked.

Before the manager could reply, a voice boomed, "Oi, what's up? Why are these brats in here? I thought we'd rented this place out!"

Blue lines appeared on the manager's head, and his eyes went buggy. "SAURQUISS-SAMA! WELCOME BACK!" he yelled, sweating.

A man with sunglasses, blue hair, and a fur coat came in, his arm wrapped around a girl with blonde hair and reflective sunglasses.

"Whatever, just throw them out," the girl said. "How much do you think we paid to rent this place out?"

"That's right. Just blow this place, you damn brat," Saurquiss told Luffy. He looked at them for a second, and then he turned Nami.

"Oi, is it okay if I kick their asses?"

"NO!" the manager and Nami yelled simultaneously.

"Kick my ass?" asked Saurquiss sarcastically. "You've got a funny guy here."

Hoshi's hackles went up, and she growled.

The sound caused the blonde to look at Hoshi with disdain… before she spotted the crystal hanging at Hoshi's throat. She whipped off her sunglasses to stare at it.

"Neh, Saurquiss," she said wheedling.

"Yes, my princess?"

"I want that necklace, because it would suit me perfectly, wouldn't it? Scum like you doesn't deserve a jewel like that," she said, addressing this last bit to Hoshi. Her aqua eyes widened with rage.

"You can't have it!" Hoshi told the blond, protectively covering the jewel with one hand. "It's very important to me, and its scum like YOU that doesn't deserve it!"

"How dare to speak to Lily like that?!" Saurquiss raged. He took his arm off the blonde, and started walking towards Hoshi. "Lily my queen, just wait there for a second. I will get that jewel for you."

"I won't let you!" Hoshi shouted. Zoro and Luffy tensed.

"Hoshi! We can't start a fight here! Why don't you give them the jewel? I can buy you a ne-" Hoshi's glare cut Nami off, and Nami realized that she had just said something extremely stupid.

"Nobody touches this jewel but me," she said quietly. "Especially not scum like them."

"Heh, you've got some guts, calling us scum," Sarquiss said, punching a fist into his hand.

"So do you, saying you're going to take my jewel," Hoshi shot back.

"Brat, don't get too cocky. Hand it over, and there's no need for anyone to get hurt." Suddenly, Sarquiss vanished. Hoshi growled and looked around. Where'd he go?

Nami screamed. Everyone turned to look at her, and Hoshi's eyes widened in shock. Sarquiss had placed his lethal-looking blade at Nami's throat.

"As I said, if you hand it over, there's no need for anyone got get hurt," he said.

Lily chuckled. "You're so evil, Sarquiss-kun."

Hoshi's eyes were hidden under her hair. Luffy and Zoro looked at her, wondering what she was going to do.

A voice, well remembered, echoed in Hoshi's mind.

_"Here, I'll give you a present before you leave. No, no, no, don't open it in here. Wait till you're safely off the island before opening it. I'll be able to tell when you've opened it, and I know you'll be safe. Put it away now and go… go and don't look back!"_

Hoshi sighed. This crystal meant more to her than almost anything else in this world. It was her only tie with her father-figure, the mayor of a little fishing village where she had hidden from the World Government as an eight-year-old. The crystal was to her like Luffy's straw hat was to him… an irreplaceable treasure. But…_Nami's life is more important than a damn crystal_, she thought irritably. Before she could change her mind, Hoshi yanked the crystal off her throat, breaking the chain, and dropped it into Sarquiss' waiting hand.

Hoshi's just given up her ultimate treasure to a stranger for her nakama's life. Will she ever see it again? Is it lost forever? And is there really any information about how to get to Sky Island in this ruthless town?!


	6. Bellamy

Author's Note: on with the show! Here's chapter eight.

Disclaimer: One Piece is Oda's, not mine. Don't sue.

Chapter Six: Bellamy

"That's a good girl. Now, take your friend and get out of here," Sarquiss snarled. He released Nami, who collapsed on the ground.

"Nami!" Hoshi immediately bent down to help her friend. "Nami! You alrig-"

"Idiot!" Nami slapped Hoshi. "Why'd you give it to them?!"

Hoshi was unperturbed by the slap. "It's alright," she said to Nami, smiling cheerfully. "It's only a crystal. No-" her voice cracked. "No biggie."

"Hoshi…"

"Here, in thanks." Sarquiss threw a sheaf of Beli on top of the two girls. Hoshi winced. "Go buy yourself another damn crystal."

"Let's blow this dump," Luffy said. He walked towards the exit, and Zoro wordlessly followed. Hoshi pulled Nami to her feet and followed the pair without taking any of the money.

"Thanks for the jewel!" Lily called as a last insult.

The four walked to a nearby bar. Nami immediately walked up to the counter, ordered a drink, and downed it.

"Man, I am SO pissed off," she raged, slamming her cup onto the counter. Zoro drank, and watched Hoshi carefully out of the corner of his eye. Hoshi was drinking only water, her eyes hidden under her hair. Her throat looked oddly bare, and it occurred to Zoro that he had never seen Hoshi without her crystal before. Feeling his eyes on her, Hoshi looked up and gave Zoro a smile… but Zoro could see that it was forced.

"Mmm… I'm sorry to hear that," the barkeeper said, taking Nami's empty cup. "Mock Town has become a place for pirates to unload their riches."

"Shabby pirates need not enter, eh?"

"Looks like nothing I say will console you. Here," the barkeep said, giving Nami another drink. "This is on the house."

"Oh… thanks," Nami said, surprised.

"Because so many rich people gather in this town, brawls and murders have become an everyday occurrence. They usually don't kill the townsfolk though," the barkeeper explained. He placed two cherry pies on the counter in front of Luffy and another man. "Here."

As Luffy tucked in, Nami still grumbled. "Well, I still don't like this town."

"I can understand how you feel," said the barkeep kindly. "Sorry to tell you this, but you won't find any ordinary people in this town. Well, your Log Post should set in about four days."

"That means we can't stay here for more than two days," Nami mused.

Hoshi didn't say anything, just sighed. She instinctively reached for her crystal… but let her hand drop when she remembered there wasn't anything there.

"Neh, Oji-san," Nami began, "Do you know anything abo-"

"OI! OSSAN!" yelled two voices: Luffy's and the big guy next to him.

"This cherry pie is so NASTY that I could die!" Luffy shouted.

"This cherry pie is so TASTY that I could die!" the big guy shouted.

The pair gave each other looks, and then they both downed their drinks at once.

"This drink is especially DELICIOUS!" Luffy exclaimed.

"This drink is especially DISGUSTING!" the big guy exclaimed.

This time, Luffy and the big guy openly glared at each other.

"Jerk, you've got something wrong with your tongue?" the big guy asked. He had black hair and a black mustache, and he had a white collar which he left unbuttoned.

"You got something wrong with your head?" Luffy shot back.

The barkeep shrugged. "I'm not the cook here, so I don't really care."

Luffy pushed his pie aside. "Ossan, I want 50 pieces of meat to go."

"I'd like 51 cherry pies to go."

"Actually, I wanted 52 pieces of meat."

"Wait! I wanted 53 cherry pies!"

"54 pieces of meat!"

"60 cherry pies!"

"70!"

"80!"

"100!"

Luffy put one foot onto the counter. "WHAT, YOU WANNA FIGHT?" they bellowed at each other.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU FIGHTING OVER?" Zoro yelled.

Hoshi was pulled out of her gloom for a second as she watched. She chuckled a bit as she watched the pair growl at each other.

"Luffy! You promised me we wouldn't fight, didn't you? Besides, we don't have that sort of money anyways!" Nami called. "We're not shopping!"

"Heh, so you're a pirate huh?" asked the big guy.

"Yeah, got that right," Luffy replied.

"What's your bounty?"

"30 million!"

"30 million? You? How d'you expect me to believe that crap? LIAR!"

"I'm not lying! It's the truth!!"

"Just stop it already, you two!" Zoro cut in.

There was a loud thunk. The barkeep firmly placed a wrapped box on the counter. "I'll thank you not to fight in my bar! Just take these and leave. 50 cherry pies, to go."

Without another word, the big guy picked up his pies and left the pub. Luffy sat back down in his chair and took another swig of beer.

Another person came in, but the Straw Hats didn't pay too much attention to him. Each absorbed in their own thoughts, they were brought back down to earth when the man called, "Is there a pirate with a straw hat in here?"

Everyone in the bar looked at the speaker, and when they did, a wave of fear hit the pub.

"It's… it's Bellamy!" one of them exclaimed. Several people got to their feet, shaking, preparing to bolt.

The guy had on a blue tasseled coat over his shoulders. Yellow spiky hair sat on his head, and his eyes were wild. Hoshi narrowed her aqua eyes as she looked the guy over. The bastards that had taken her crystal were Bellamy's subordinates… so this was the real guy, huh?

"You, you're the one with the 30 million bounty, Straw Hat Luffy, am I correct?" Without waiting for an answer, Bellamy started to walk towards the counter.

"What?" Luffy said.

"Looks like he's calling you out," Zoro commented.

Hoshi felt her nerves humming. The little voice in her mind, the thing that was the phoenix inside of her, whispered in a melodic language. The melody that it was singing was on a minor tone, urgent. Hoshi's hackles went up.

"I'm meeting a lot of huge people today," Luffy told Bellamy as he reached the counter.

Paying Luffy no attention, Bellamy addressed the barkeeper. "I'll have the most expensive booze you've got… and give the shrimp here something he likes," he said, pointing to Luffy as he said that last bit.

"Ah, looks like the place is full today," said another voice.

"What's with this place? It's all dirty," complained a girl's voice, high and whiney. Hoshi's eyes widened. That voice…

"All the losers here are drinking cheap rum," one of the guys commented. Several new people had walked in… obviously from Bellamy's crew.

Hoshi turned her head. Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the blonde from earlier… and that what's-his-face person… Sarquiss, she thought.

Sarquiss headed to a table and threw some people out of their chairs. "You could at least clear some seats for us," he snarled. "What inhospitable folk we have here."

Several other people in the bar, regular townspeople, fled out the door after hearing that.

"Bellamy sure likes his fun," a pink haired girl commented. Sarquiss and Lily laughed. Hoshi thought she was going to explode when she saw that Lily-girl wearing her crystal on her neck.

The barkeeper brought Bellamy and Luffy their drinks, and then quickly fled to the other side of the counter.

"Here, drink up," Bellamy told Luffy.

"What, you're a nice guy!" Luffy said, then started to chug his drink.

Hoshi brought her lips to a snarl and growled. Lily noticed, and laughed. "Well if it isn't the girl from earlier. Thanks for the crystal. It suits me, doesn't it?"

Before Hoshi could reply, Bellamy grabbed Luffy's head and smashed it into the counter so hard that the counter broke. Nami gasped, and Hoshi instantly drew her whip from the air.

Sarquiss laughed. "I wasn't sure what Bellamy was thinking, buying that kid a drink!" he roared.

Bellamy laughed, then he smirked as he felt Zoro's blade at his neck. "And just what are you doing, you underling?" he asked.

"That's a question YOU should answer," Zoro growled.

"ZORO! Wait a minute! You promised me, and we still haven't gotten any information ye-"

"Shut up! This guy asked for a fight, and I'm giving it to him!"

Taking advantage of everyone's attention on Luffy and Bellamy, Hoshi lazily flicked her whip. It cracked on Lily's neck, neatly severing the chain to the crystal. Another lazy flick made the whip wrap around the crystal, and Hoshi jerked her hand back in a motion which brought the crystal flying in her direction.

Lily screamed, and clutched her throat. "AUGH! YOU'VE KILLED ME!" she shrieked.

Hoshi smirked. "I just took what was mine," she coolly replied. "And you're not hurt anyways, so why are you screaming?"

"What do you mean!? You cracked your whip on my ne… oh." The blonde flushed as she realized that Hoshi had not so much as touched her skin. Only the chain had been harmed.

"Thank you very kindly," Hoshi said, taking a spare chain out of her pocket and placing the crystal back onto her throat.

Luffy stood up and glanced at Hoshi. Her face wasn't triumphant or mocking… but it burned with her inner fire. He turned his gaze back to Bellamy.

"What, you can still stand?" Bellamy asked him mockingly.

"Bellamy! Get my crystal back!" Lily shrieked.

Bellamy turned his gaze to Hoshi. Her eyes turned to pale ice as their gazes locked. He grinned. "Hey, hey, what's with that scary face?" he asked Hoshi.

"I hope you've prepared yourself," Luffy told Bellamy.

The people in the bar roared. "Oh oh! It looks like that runt is going to take on Bellamy!" someone yelled over the shouting.

Bellamy grinned. "This isn't going to be a fight… it'll be a test! Come! Show me what sort of 'power' you have!"

"Luffy wait!" Nami yelled. She turned to the barkeeper. "Neh, Oji-san, we came here seeking information on Sky Island! Do you know anything about it?"

The barkeeper stared at her as if she were mad. Silence fell over the whole bar for one second, then an eruption of laugher came from all sides.

"Sky Island!? Give me a break!!"

"Are you guys for real?"

"You all are nuts! Crazy nuts!"

"But… but the Log Post is pointing directly towards the sky!" Nami shouted. Silence fell again as everyone craned their necks to see, then the laugher started agin.

"Ohhh, the Log Post is pointing directly towards the skyyyy!"

"Log Posts go haywire all the time you know!"

"Ohh noo! There's an island in the skyyy!"

Nami bit her lower lip as she blushed first red, then scarlet as the laughter showed no sign of ceasing. Hoshi snarled and cracked her whip over their heads. "ENOUGH!" she bellowed. There was instant silence.

Bellamy sat down at the ruined counter and cackled. "Oi oi, you guys believe that cock-and-bull story of there being an island in the sky? Man, what era are you living in? There are many unique ocean currents on the Grand Line. One of em's called the Knock Up Stream. It's a monstrous sea current that blasts ships into the sky. Some idiots saw some of those ships falling, and they said, 'Oh, there must be an island in the sky!' What a load! Even crazy stuff like that has a rational explanation!"

Luffy clenched his fists.

Bellamy continued. "All dreams can be explained! But what a shame. I was going to let you into my crew if you passed the test for the New Era," he told Luffy. "But you're a lost cause!"

Addressing the whole bar now, he shouted out, "The age where pirates are led on by fanciful illusions is OVER! The Emerald City? The City of Gold, El Dorado? The greatest treasure, One Piece? None of them exist!"

Luffy's eyes were hidden under his hat, but Hoshi noticed with alarm that he had unclenched his fists.

"Looking at dream-chasing idiots like you… makes my stomach churn!" Bellamy yelled, punching Luffy in the face. Luffy could see it coming, but he offered no resistance. He fell to the floor.

"Luffy!" Nami shouted. Zoro narrowed his eyes. Hoshi reached for her cup and took a last sip of water, her hand tightening on the coiled whip in her hand.

"It's because of you weak pirates that the rest of us REAL pirates get a bad reputation!" Bellamy roared. "Geez, the Marines are basically becoming a charity, offering 30 million for someone like you!"

A wine bottle crashed next to Luffy's head, and he winced as a drop of it fell in his eye.

"Get out of here!" someone called. "You're making my rum taste bad!"

"It's exactly like Bellamy says!"

"Get out of here you fools!"

More wine bottles crashed near them. Nami covered her head, and Hoshi casually stopped one from hitting Nami's head by catching it and placed it neatly on the counter.

"Bellamy! Looks like the folks here want a show!" Sarquiss called. Lily ran up to Hoshi to try to grab the crystal, but one look from those ice cold eyes stopped her.

"Give it up already," Hoshi told the blonde. "It's not something that will stay with you."

Nami panicked. "You three! Forget about the promise! Beat the crap out of these people already!"

"Hoshi! Zoro!" Luffy's voice was calm and clear.

They looked at their captain, wondering what he was going to say next.

"We aren't going to fight."

Zoro and Hoshi wordlessly acknowledged their captain's command. Zoro sheathed his sword, and Hoshi let her whip vanish into air. Nami looked at the three of them in horror as the wine barrels and bottles continued to crash around them.

BANZAI! Hoshi's got her crystal back, but what is up with Luffy's decision not to fight? What is going to happen to the Straw Hats now? Why is Luffy not defending his dream? Is there really no Sky Island at all?


	7. A New Lead

Author's Note: Chapter seven here! Just a little heads up, a little graphic violence in here during about the first third of this chapter or so…

Disclaimer: No no no no no! I do NOT own One Piece! Oda does, NOT MEE!!

Chapter Seven: A New Lead

Nami looked on with horror as her nakama were ruthlessly beat up.

"Whoo! Wipe the floor with those useless rookies!"

Zoro was thrown into a table so hard, he broke it in half. The people at that table jeered and kicked him with all their strength. Bleeding cuts and purple bruises decorated his body.

"Show those worthless dreamers reality!"

Three people ganged up on Hoshi and continuously broke wine bottles on her head. She coughed, and fell to her knees, unable to breathe through the continuous flow of wine, clinging to consciousness. Shards of broken glass rained around her, cutting her body to ribbons.

"Luffy! Zoro! Hoshi! What the hell are you doing!? You can take these guys!" Nami screamed in desperation.

Bellamy punched Luffy into the wall again… and again… and again… and Luffy did not resist. Laughing like a maniac, he threw Luffy into the air, and Luffy was bounced around the room like a rag doll. Blood streamed from his numerous cuts and bruises.

Sarquiss chuckled. "Give it up babe. These people know when they're up against someone they can't beat. They won't fight anyone stronger then themselves. It's so pathetic… I can't even bear to watch!" he yelled, saving Hoshi from suffocating by kicking her in the head and grinding her side into the broken glass. She wearily stood, blood streaming from her side, and went to stand next to Luffy and Zoro.

Someone laughed. "Guess your captain doesn't have even a scrap of dignity," he boomed.

Nami clutched Luffy's hat to her chest as she saw the three of them standing there, covered in cuts and bruises. She trembled. "Why… why aren't you guys fighting back?" she whispered helplessly.

Bellamy grabbed a full cup of beer and started chugging it. "On top of being weaklings, you all have no pride," he told the three lined up in front of him. "You all are just like worms!"

The bar erupted with laughter. Bellamy chugged some more wine. He saved the last mouthful of it, and spat it into Luffy's face. Not expecting this, Luffy choked and coughed on it.

"Oi, get these guys out of here. They're eyescores," Bellamy told a couple of his subordinates. They cracked their knuckles in glee. One of them slammed his knee into Zoro's head. He broke two tables and several plates before crashing into the wall underneath the window. The second went into some sort of strange combo. He kicked Hoshi in the stomach and sent her airborne. Before she could come back down, he started punching her, sending her into the air again and again before giving her a kick that sent her into the wall next to Zoro. The last one took Luffy's head and smashed it into the window. The jagged pieces of glass on the window were stained with Luffy's blood.

The crowd laughed. "Look at those wimps!"

Nami ran to the wall. "You guys! Luffy! Zoro! Hoshi!" She kneeled down by their crumpled forms, trying desperately to think of some way to help them…

"Oi, woman. You're not going to survive the coming era with those idiots. Just forget them and come with us. How much do they buy you for?" Sarquiss asked.

Nami's eyes went wide with fury. She forced herself to calm down and face her insulter. "Now you've said it. Buy me?"

"Yeah. How much do you go for? C'mon over here, it's going to be fun."

The men chuckled nastily.

"Unfortunately… I'm much too good for a team of pansies like you all," Nami said with a shadow over her smile. The women on Bellamy's crew hissed with fury upon hearing this.

Instead of making Sarquiss mad or upset, as Nami had expected, this statement sent him into hysterics. "She's expensive!" he gasped between guffaws.

The whole bar laughed with him.

"They've got a whole crew of idiots here!"

"There's no hope for any of them!"

"You four, just get out of my sight while you still have your lives!" Bellamy told them over the noise. Luffy and Zoro got to their feet, their hair hiding their eyes. Hoshi tried to get up, but a shard of glass had embedded itself into her left calf, cutting her muscle. She tried to stand up, but fell back down with a cry of pain. The crowd's laughter intensified at hearing her cry.

"Listen to that weakling!" they hooted.

Wordlessly, Zoro picked her up under her shoulders and carried her out of the bar, following Nami and Luffy. Wine bottles followed their progress out, smashing into pieces, and soaking the both of them with rum.

"Sorry Zoro," she whispered as they came out into the sunlight, her raven-black hair dripping with alcohol. She looked up at him with a cut and bruised smile.

"Don't worry about it."

Nami raged in silence for once, leading the way back to the ship.

"Sky Island does exist," boomed a voice over the street.

They all turned around to look at the speaker… it was the guy from earlier, the one who had shared the argument over the cherry pies with Luffy.

He had opened his sack of cherry pies, and was eating one while sitting in the middle of the street. He bit into one with a pleased growl. "These cherry pies are really the best!" he said through a mouthful of the stuff.

"You're the man from before," Nami said tonelessly.

"What're you lookin' so down about lady?" he asked her. "Those three won their fight."

"Eh?"

"And the tongue-lashing you gave them was pretty impressive too. You've got some guts lady!"

Luffy took his hat from Nami and put it back onto his head without a word.

"That new era those guys were talking about is _shit_." The big man guffawed. "The age where pirates dream is over, eh?" He paused to chug from his rum bottle before shouting at the top of his lungs, "PEOPLE'S DREAMS… NEVER END!!"

Luffy looked at the man with an expressionless face. Hoshi met the man's gaze with steady eyes.

"AM I RIGHT?" he bellowed at them.

People started to gather around and laugh. "Oi oi, what're you talking about nutcase?" one of the brasher ones asked. "People's dreams?"

"It ain't easy to surpass a person!" the big guy bellowed to the sky.

"This guy's lost it!" one of the onlookers laughed.

"Let them laugh," the big guy told the four kids in front of him. "If you seek the Pirate's Summit, you'll find fights that fists alone could never take you to!

FOLLOW IT!" he roared.

The man continued to laugh… and laugh… and laugh.

"Let's go," Zoro said. He supported Hoshi as she limped along on her good leg.

"Okay…" Nami said, a little confused. "Luffy?"

Luffy locked his gaze with the big man's. The big guy got to his feet. "Oh, sorry, looks like I've held you up," he told Luffy. He picked up his pies and started to walk away. "I hope you make it there… to Sky Island!" he roared, waving his hand behind him.

Luffy turned and followed Zoro and Hoshi. Nami ran a few steps to catch up. "Hey, who was that guy? Do you think he might have known something about Sky Island?"

"Dunno," Luffy replied. "But it wasn't 'that guy'."

"It was 'those guys'," Zoro explained… which didn't really explain too much.

Hoshi lifted her head a bit as her ears caught the big guy's voice again… "The rum tastes particularly good today!" he roared. She chuckled, feeling her crystal gently tap her throat which each limping step she took.

Zoro noticed as Hoshi tried to ease her weight on him, by using her bad leg, and he winced. "Oi, just lean on me. Don't use your bad leg until we get Chopper to take a look at it, okay?" Zoro told her.

"But you're hurt too!" Hoshi weakly protested.

"I don't have a damn piece of broken glass in my leg though," Zoro replied.

Hoshi tiredly complied. She was too exhausted to argue.

They heard the sound of Usopp patching up the Going Merry long before they actually got to the docks. Chopper was helping him, so Sanji spotted them coming first.

"Nami-saaaan! Welcome back!" he yelled. "Hoshi-chan! Welco- Hoshi-chan! What happened to you!?"

"L-l-l-luffy! Z-zoro! Hoshi! How did you all get like that?!" Usopp yelled

"Doc-doctor… doctor… d-d-"

"That's YOU Chopper!" Sanji yelled down from the deck.

"Oh, right."

They all climbed onto the deck. Chopper tended to Hoshi first. He carefully removed the glass from her leg before rubbing some disinfectant medicine into it and wrapping it up. Then he tended to all of their cuts and bruises, cleaning them all up and applying bandages.

"So how many monsters did you end up fighting?" Usopp asked as Chopper tended to them.

"Just another pirate. It's okay… it's all finished now," Luffy told Usopp cheerfully.

Hoshi and Zoro nodded in agreement.

"YOU guys may think it's finished, but I don't," Nami growled. "What the hell!" she raged. "You guys are supposed to beat up anyone who wants to fight you! No, not just them, the whole damn TOWN should be razed to the ground for pissing me off!"

Hoshi laughed hard, clutching her belly. "It's really not that bad Nami!"

Zoro sweatdropped. "And what was it you said at the beginning?" he asked.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER NOW!!" Nami screamed at him, causing him to fall overboard. Hoshi laughed even harder.

"Umm… why is Nami so pissed off?" Usopp asked. "She didn't even get hurt."

"Well, dunno," Luffy replied.

"Oh! Did you all find out anything about Sky Island?" Chopper asked.

"Sk-y I-s-la-nd?" Nami asked, a dangerous shadow on her face. Chopper yelled and hid behind Hoshi.

"I don't want to hear ANYTHING more about Sky Island. Just saying those words made the whole bar laugh at me! IS THAT FUNNY?" Nami raged.

Hoshi was laughing so hard, she was crying. "Shaddup!" Nami roared, grabbing the cuff of Hoshi's T-shirt.

"B-but," Hoshi choked between her laughs. She tried to say that Nami's angry face was REALLY funny, but she couldn't get the words out for laughing so hard.

"AH! JUST STOP LAUGHING ALREADY!" Nami yelled, taking Hoshi for a lost cause and throwing her into the mast.

"OI! BE NICE TO MERRY!" Usopp yelled.

Even before the smoke cleared though, the sound of Hoshi's laughter covered the ship. She sat in a wreckage of splinters, laughing. Hearing it, Nami couldn't help but to calm down just a little, though when she turned her gaze back onto Usopp and Chopper…. Usopp had made a Hisatsu Ketchup-Boshi explode onto his chest, making it look like he was dead, and Chopper had eaten a Rumble Ball and had gone into Guard Point. A stress mark appeared on Nami's forehead.

"Things are certainty lively here! What's all the excitement about?" Robin asked, coming up the gangplank.

"Ohh! Robin-chan! Welcome back!" Sanji sang.

"Robin? Where'd you go?" Luffy asked.

"To get some clothes, provisions, and some information on Sky Island," Robin replied with a smile… but she had said the two words which set Nami off again.

"THAT'S RIGHT! IT WAS _YOU_ ROBIN! YOU TOLD US THAT SKY ISLAND EXISTED!" Nami roared. "IF IT DOESN'T EXIST, I'M GOING TO THROW YOU OVERBOARD!"

As Nami went back into rampaging mode, Chopper freaked and went into Jump Point, jumping overboard into the sea. The last thing a grumpy Zoro expected was for the reindeer to come down crashing on his head and start sinking like a stone. Hoshi went into a new bout of laughter, and jumped overboard herself to save them both.

Usopp waved his hands back and forth in apology. "Sorry Robin! Nami's had a rough day! Actually, it would be best to stay away from her for a while…"

Robin smiled in understanding. She sprouted a hand that handed (pun not intended) a map to Luffy.

"Huh? What's this?"

Sanji leaned in to take a closer look. "It looks like a treasure map."

"A treasure map!?" Usopp pushed his head between Luffy's and Sanji's. "Where is it?"

"It's a map of this island," Robin replied. "See that town on the left? That's Mock Town. The X on the right is where an outcast of Jaya lives. His name is Montblanc Cricket. He was chased out of town for speaking about his dream. Fitting, isn't it?" Robin explained. She paused to watch a soaking wet Hoshi drag an equally soaking wet Chopper and Zoro over the banister before smiling and going into the cabin.

"Yosh, let's go check it out!" Luffy said.

"Oi oi, wait a minute Luffy," Usopp said. "We can't go yet! There are these guys- Chopper, you saw them too, righ-"

Turning for Chopper's support, Usopp saw Chopper lying on the deck gasping. Zoro had peeled off his shirt and was wringing it out, and Hoshi crossed her arms across her chest and shook herself out, spraying water everywhere. "Umm… what are you guys doing?"

"I… I thought I was a goner!" Chopper gasped.

Zoro sported a huge bump on his head. He rubbed it gingerly. "Man, that hurt Chopper!"

"Geez, the both of you made me jump in after you!" Hoshi teasingly scolded them. "Now I'm wet all over again."

"B-but," Chopper stuttered. "Nami wa-"

"WHAT? I was WHAT exactly? You going to call me a moron too?!"

Chopper screamed in terror.

YES! The crew has a new lead on Sky Island! Does Sky Island exist? Who is this Montblanc Cricket, and will he help the crew get to their destination?


	8. Monekys and HalfHouses

Author's Note: YOSH! To honor the requests of my friends, Miss. AllSunday Nico Robin, and Sora4801, there may be a developing love triangle! Maaaaaaaayybeeee… read and see, but nothing's gonna be definite until my next story in this series!! XD I love being evil!!!

Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue

Chapter Eight: Monkeys and Half-Houses

"So if we come around the northern bend of the island, we're going to see this Montblanc Cricket guy?" Hoshi asked Luffy, tracing the map with her finger.

"I guess so," Luffy replied. Hoshi smiled at him, and Luffy felt his stomach do a strange little flip.

"Ah, I wonder what sort of guy he is," Hoshi mused.

"Well, we'll see when we get there," Usopp said, listening in.

Hoshi stood up and stretched. "Yosh, I'm going to test out my wing." She pulled out her wings and flexed them experimentally. Jumping overboard, she pushed down, hard, and gained altitude. It was an impressive sight, seeing Hoshi's black figure framed by her white wings to be outlined by the clear blue sky. Luffy felt his spirits lift as her shadow fell across him.

She circled above the ship a few times, waving to Usopp in the crow's nest, before starting her descent. "Good as new!" she announced happily.

When Hoshi touched down though, a pain spread from her calf like a flash of lightening, and she stumbled and fell.

"You alright Hoshi?" Zoro asked, opening one eye. He had been napping on the front of the ship as usual, which also happened to be Hoshi's preferred landing spot.

Hoshi gingerly stood, cursing quietly. "Dammit, looks like my leg's still not completely healed," she growled.

"OF COURSE NOT!" Chopper yelled, running across the deck. "I told you to take it easy or else the wound's going to open again! And your wing was shot with a bullet this morning!"

"But it's all healed now… there's no reason why I shouldn't fly!" Hoshi protested.

"Do you want to loose the use of your wing!?"

"Hell no, but it's fine now!"

"OI! EVERYONE! IT'S THOSE MONKEYS!" Usopp yelled from the crow's nest, interrupting the argument.

"Huh? Where?" Luffy called.

"They're at 12 o'clock!"

Luffy's eyes opened wide. "Their ship can fly?!"

"I didn't say that!"

"But 12 o'clock is UP, like the kitchen clock!"

Usopp fell down and twitched.

"Right in front of us, huh?" Hoshi said, looking at the approaching ship and instinctively pulled in her wings.

"It's sort of weird to see them so soon," Luffy commented. "But… they're not the same guys from before, Usopp."

"Well," Sanji said, coming out of the kitchen to see, "We can't say if that's a good or bad thing yet."

"B-but the other ones we met before live on this island! We saw them come back, right Chopper!?" Usopp yelled down.

"Y-yeah, that salvage guy really does live on this island!"

"Well, it doesn't bother me if we meet them again!" Luffy said cheerfully. "They're good guys!"

Zoro sweatdropped. "Oi…"

Hoshi came and stood between Zoro and Luffy. "Do either of you think that they're going to give us any problems this time?" she asked.

"Who knows?" Zoro grumbled. He felt a little grumpy that Hoshi was standing so close to Luffy for some reason…

"Probably nothing we can't handle," Luffy said nonchalantly. A weird tingle was spreading around his body, making him feel slightly dizzy as he glanced at Hoshi's aqua eyes. She met his gaze and smiled, making his stomach flip again.

"Oh! Ni-chan, ni-chan, you should stop that mouth-flapping over there!"

Hoshi looked up. They had come within shouting distance of the other salvaging ship… though it might also help that the other guy was using a microphone.

"Dang, my heart was all pitter-patter at wondering who you were," the captain of the other ship said.

Hoshi focused her vision on the speaker. He had extremely long light-green hair, wore a green tasseled coat, and a green, three-pointed hat. His face was like that other guy… what was his name? Masira or something, the other monkey, except this guy had a light-green beard too.

Luffy just looked at the guy for a second. "You have a weird face," he told the other guy. "What species are you?"

"HOW RUDE! I'M HUMAN!" the guy roared.

"YOU JERKS!" his crew all shouted. "How dare you insult the Big Boss of the Shojo pirates!"

"The king of underwater exploration, Shojo-sama!"

"Don't you dare make Shojo-sama mad!"

"Never mind, never mind," Shojo waved his hand to quiet his troops. He looked at the Going Merry and her crew with a shadow on his face. "Did you hear? Crocodile of the Shibukai has fallen from power. In terms of merit, I might have a chance of grabbing his seat," he intoned. "My heart is all pitter-patter as I wait!"

Hoshi hastily covered a laugh with a cough. This guy? One of the Shibukai?

"You want to be one of the Shibukai?" Luffy asked.

"You want to know what's so great about me?" Shojo asked.

"That's not what we asked," the Straw Hats said simultaneously.

Nevertheless, Shojo continued. "I HAVE NEVER CUT MY HAIR IN THE 25 YEARS SINCE I WAS BORN!!"

Dead silence fell. Suddenly, Hoshi's laugher exploded into the air like golden rain. Shojo turned a haughty eye on Hoshi's hunched figure.

"What, you think that's funny do you?" Shojo looked over all the other Straw Hats, who were trying to stifle their laughter… except for Luffy.

"You're an idiot," Luffy told Shojo.

"BASTARD!" Shojo's crew roared. "Big Boss is-"

"Ah, you're reply's got my heart all pitter-patter," Shojo called, waving a hand for his crew to quiet down. "Understand this," he told the Straw Hats. "Pass through the tunnel that is my anger, and you shall find a sea of red blood."

"Ooo, scary," Hoshi mocked.

"Yeah, anyway, we've got somewhere we've got to go, so move already," Luffy said.

"BRAT!" Shojo roared. "THIS STRETCH OF SEA IS MY TERRITORY! IF YOU WANT TO PASS, PAY THE TOLL!"

"'This stretch of sea is my territory'? Isn't that what that guy Masira said earlier?" Hoshi asked.

"What? What about Masira? You all know him?" Shojo asked, briefly calming down.

"Well… we sort of kicked him," Luffy told Shojo.

"K-KICKED?"

"But, he's still alive! He's alright!"

"K-kicke… ki-kicked… kicked… UWAAAAAHH!!"

"What the hell?" Zoro growled.

"FOR MY LITTLE BROTHER… REVENGE FOR MASIRA!!"

"OI! Listen already! We may have kicked him, but he's alright! He's alive!" Luffy yelled… to no avail.

"SOUND WAVE… HAVOC SONAR!!" Shojo shrieked into his microphone. As they were hit by the sound waves, planks became undone and broke, the ship started crumbling…

"Umm… what are they doing?" Hoshi asked.

"Shojo-sama! Please don't do that on the ship!" one of the guy's subordinates yelled. "You're destroying this ship!"

"Dunno," Sanji replied.

"But that's pretty cool, breaking a ship with his voice," Luffy commented.

"C'mon guys! Quit staring at them and let's get going!" Nami called.

"YES NAMI-SAN!" Sanji sang.

"Oho! Nami's not a demon anymore!" Luffy said.

Everyone started walking towards Nami… but suddenly-

"This is bad! The sound waves are affecting our ship too!" Usopp yelled, stomping on a plank that had wrenched free of its position.

"Dammit," Hoshi growled. She sat cross-legged on the deck, and put her hands on her knees.

"Umm… what are you doing?" Chopper asked, confused.

"Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate," Hoshi shot back.

Power hummed in the air, then suddenly, the sound waves lessened.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Usopp asked.

Hoshi jumped, and at the lapse in her concentration, the sound waves returned in full force and started breaking the ship again.

"AH! WE'RE GONNA BE TORN TO PIECES IF WE STAY HERE!" Chopper yelled.

"Dammit!" Hoshi said. "Just don't talk to me till we get the ship away!"

Power made the air throb this time, and then the sound waves stopped breaking the ship. It was just sound and not a weapon anymore. Hoshi's brow was furrowed, and sweatbeads rolled down her cheeks.

"C'mon! Let's get the ship away already!" Nami called.

With a last confused look at Hoshi, the crew did as they were told.

Later, when Shojo's ship was out of sight and sound range, Hoshi relaxed. She sighed, and leaned back against the banister, stretching her legs out in front of her, wiping her head with her forearm.

"So? What did you do?" Zoro asked, planting himself in front of her. Hoshi wearily cracked open one eye.

"Couldn't you ask later?" she asked.

"Tell me," he demanded.

Hoshi sighed. "I have the power to control air, and sound waves are basically vibration of the air… so I threw my power out and made the air around the ship stop vibrating so much. Did it work?"

"Well… the ship's not driftwood in the sea, so you could say that it worked," Zoro replied sarcastically.

Hoshi chuckled exhaustedly. "But man," she said, "That really takes the energy out of me. It requires a tremendous amount of concentration." She put her hands behind her head and yawned. "Wake me up when we get to that Cricket dude's place."

"Hang on, w-" Zoro cut himself off. Hoshi was already asleep, her head resting on her chest, and her crystal sparkling right underneath her chin. He was annoyed for a minute, but that passed quickly as he watched Hoshi. A flash of tenderness appeared on his face as he watched her steady breathing. A few of her bangs were awry, and he knelt down to gently brush them back into place.

Luffy watched this action with an expressionless face.

Later, Usopp was fixing the places that had been damaged in the initial sound wave attack. "Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. That. Orangutan," he said, emphasizing each word by hitting a nail with his hammer. "Putting even more holes into Merry…"

"I've never seen her in worse condition. Time for a new one?" Sanji asked, while helping Zoro repair the mast.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR OPINION, ASSHOLE!" Usopp shouted while making a funny face.

"Asshole!" Chopper repeated, delighted with Usopp's funny face and imitating it.

"You DO know how we got this ship in the first place, DON'T YOU!?" Usopp yelled.

"Yeah, you've told me a million times. A pretty girl in your village gave it to us, didn't she?" Sanji clarified.

Chopper tried to get the face right while saying 'asshole' repeatedly to each attempt.

"We know, Usopp," Luffy said over Chopper as he also hammered a nail into the banister. "But complaining isn't going to do anything. Merry's an important nakama to us, so let's work hard and fix her ourselves."

Usopp's eyes were moist. "Luffy… you're such a…"

Luffy hit his nail too hard and destroyed the banister. "Oops."

"BASTARD!!! ARE YOU TRYING TO FIX HER OR DESTROY HER!?" Usopp roared.

"Well, I really want to fix her…" Luffy said, grabbing a new plank and proceeding to hammer it into the broken banister… "Ah. I did it again."

"LUFFY!" the whole crew yelled.

Later, the crew gathered as they drew close to their destination… Hoshi was still out cold though.

"So the guy we're going to see… what's his name again?" Luffy asked.

"Montblanc Cricket," Robin answered.

They rounded a bend in the island and gaped at what they saw. "A man who dreams, eh?" Sanji muttered.

"A-AWESOME!" Luffy screamed.

A huge castle loomed up before them.

"Is that… his house?" Usopp spluttered.

"Morons, look again," Zoro told them.

"He's more like a big show-off," Sanji said.

"Whaddya mean?" Chopper asked, looking at the castle from this angle and that.

Luffy walked up to Hoshi and gently shook her shoulder. "Oi, Hoshi, wake up! We're here."

Hoshi blearily blinked. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "We're here?"

"Yup!" Luffy hesitated, then patted her shoulder before he stretched his arms and shot onto the shore before everyone else. He yelled in astonishment. "IT'S FLAT!!"

"See, it's just a board," Zoro said.

"WHAT?" Chopper and Usopp screamed.

"He has only half a house. The rest is just makeshift," Robin told the two.

Hoshi stood up and stretched. "So the man's a cheapskate," she commented. "What kind of dreams was he talking about that got him kicked out of town?" she asked Robin.

"I don't know the details, but apparently he claimed that there's a mountain of gold somewhere on this island," Robin answered.

"Gold!?" Nami exclaimed. "You means like pirates treasure or something?"

"Who knows," Robin said mysteriously.

"YOSH!" Nami dragged Chopper off the ship. "Chopper! Start digging double time!"

"So we'll find the gold if I just dig?" Chopper asked. Robin sweatdropped.

"Konichiwa!" Luffy and Hoshi called, opening the door to the man's half-house.

"You're just going to walk in!?" Usopp exclaimed, eyes popping out.

"Oh right. 'Sorry for intruding'," Luffy redeemed himself. Usopp fell down.

"Huh? No one's here," Luffy said to himself. They both went inside and poked around for a bit. There was no one in the house.

"Wait up idiots!" Usopp said, peeking around the doorway. "What if some really dangerous guy lives here?!"

"KONICHIWA!!" Hoshi bellowed.

"No answer. Looks like no one's home," Luffy said, walking out. Hoshi followed and closed the door behind them.

A chill crept up and snagged the base of Hoshi's spine. Pulling a face, she said, "Something big's going to happen soon…"

"Of course! We're going to go to Sky Island really soon!" Luffy answered cheerfully. He grinned back at her, but Hoshi still wore a suspicious look on her face.

Does Montblanc Cricket really live here? Did he move away? If he does live here, will he be willing to share information on Sky Island with the Straw Hats? And what is making Hoshi uneasy?


	9. Liar Norland

Author's Note: DAMMIT!!! WEBSITE WOULDN'T LET ME UPLOAD AND I'VE HAD THIS CHAPTER READY FOR A WEEK SO SORRY THIS IS LATE!!!!

Disclaimer: don't own, don't sue

Chapter Nine: Liar Norland and Chestnuts

"Huh? Everyone! Come look at this!" Nami called. They all turned their attention to her. "It's a picture book. 'Liar Norland'," she read.

"Heh, sounds like my kind of guy!" Usopp said proudly.

"Oh! I know that story! It's very famous in North Blue," Sanji said.

"North Blue? You didn't come from East Blue?" Usopp asked.

"East Blue was where the Baratie sailed, but I was born and raised in North Blue," Sanji said. "Didn't I tell you all?"

"News to me," Nami said.

"It's a pretty famous story in the North. It's a book for kids, but I heard that this Norland guy was a real person once," Sanji explained.

Nami blew some dust off the book, then proceeded to read it aloud. "Once upon a time, long, long ago, perhaps over 400 years ago, there lived in a certain country a man named Montblanc Norland. Norland was an explorer who always spoke of adventures so grand, they sounded like lies. But the people could never tell if his stories were true or not."

"Bet he sailed the Grand Line," Hoshi murmured.

Nami continued. "One day, Norland returned from an expedition and went straightaway to report to the king. 'I saw a mountain of gold on an island in the Great Sea', he said. The brave king, wanting to see this for himself, set sail for the Great Sea, taking along 2,000 soldiers with him. They had great adventures and battled ferocious monsters. After all this, the only ones to reach the island were Norland, the king, and 100 soldiers. But all the king and his men found there was an empty jungle. Norland was sentenced to death for his lies. And these were Norland's last words: 'I know! The city of gold must have sunk into the sea!' The king and his subjects were astounded. No one would believe Norland anymore. But to the day he died, Norland would not stop lying." Nami closed the book with a sad little sigh. "So the pitiful liar perished… without ever becoming a brave warrior of the sea."

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?" Usopp yelled.

Luffy wasn't listening. He was kneeling over water, looking curiously at some little bubbles that were popping on the surface in a continuous stream. He frowned and leaned out further.

"GYAA-"

"Luffy fell into the sea!" Nami yelled.

"Geez Luffy, if you do stuff like that, of course you're going t-" Usopp's words were cut off as a man with blonde hair and an chestnut-shaped ornament on his head pulled himself out of the sea.

"Who the hell are you all?!" he yelled. "You've got guts, relaxing in another man's home! This stretch of sea is MY territory!"

"Hey, that's the same thing the monkeys said!" Hoshi pointed out… but no one was listening.

"Oi, Usopp, go get Luffy!" Sanji yelled, running to attack the man.

"Y-yeah! Got it!"

"You're after the gold, aren't you?" the chestnut-man growled. "THEN DIE!"

Sanji dodged under the man's kick, and then flew up with one of his own. The chestnut-man blocked the kick by hooking his hand over Sanji's ankle. The two stared at each other for a moment, then suddenly, the chestnut man pulled out a gun and fired. Sanji's head disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"SANJI!" Chopper and Nami yelled.

"It's fine! He missed," Sanji called. He had thrown his head backwards so he wouldn't get shot.

Chestnut-man started firing at Sanji, and he did some sort of elaborate dance to avoid the bullets. "Hey! Hold on a second!"

"Moron," Zoro lifted himself up. "That's what you get for underestimating him. Move! I'll take care of it!"

Zoro started a charge, hands on his blade, but suddenly, Hoshi seemed to step out of thin air in front of him. She placed her hands on his chest and stopped his charge.

"STOP IT!" Hoshi yelled.

"Hoshi! What are you do-" Before Zoro could finish, Hoshi stumbled and accidentally took him down with her. He fell on top of her. Hoshi coughed and gasped as the wind was knocked out of her.

"Ah! Sorry!" she said as a bullet hit the ground next to them. "B-but, you can't attack that guy! He's sick!"

"What are you ta-"

Suddenly, the chestnut man fell over onto his side for no apparent reason. He was unconscious as Usopp came out of the water dragging Luffy behind him.

"Dammit Luffy, what the hell were you doing?"

"I was cough looking at some bubbles cough coming to the surface cough cough when cough a chestnut appeared out of the water! cough But the chestnut was actually an Ossan cough and he pulled me under the water! cough cough" Luffy gasped.

"Luffy! Are you alright!?" Hoshi yelled.

"Yeah, I'm cough fine. AH!! OSSAN!"

The chestnut-man, who Robin had decided was Montblanc Cricket, was curled up on the ground in pain.

"Cool off some more towels!" Chopper called. "Open all the windows!"

They had brought Cricket inside and Chopper was taking charge of nursing him back to health.

"This looks like decompression sickness," Chopper muttered to himself.

"Decompression sickness?" Nami asked. "This ossan is sick?"

"Yeah… he's really sick. It's an ailment that affects many divers. The pressure change from the deep to the surface causes nitrogen bubbles to form in the blood vessels. The bubbles strain the blood vessel walls and the surrounding tissue. It's not a permanent condition, though if not reversed, can be deadly."

"Yeah… Mystery Effects," Luffy said, leaning on the windowsill.

Hoshi made a face at Zoro which plainly said, "I told you so."

"This man must have been diving every single day, without waiting for the bubbles to be reabsorbed back into his blood," Chopper muttered.

"But why?!" Hoshi asked.

"I don't know."

Hoshi's ears pricked. She grinned as she heard the sound of two running footsteps… footsteps that belonged to BIG feet.

Zoro looked at Hoshi's strange grin. "Oi, what's w-"

"OYASSAN!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?"

The two salvaging monkeys thrust their heads through the doorway. At the sight of them, Usopp and Chopper ran back and forth across the room, screaming, "THEY'VE COME TO KILL US!"

"What the hell are you guys doing here?!" Shojo demanded.

"What have you done to the Oyassan!?" Masira roared.

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked them. "We're taking care of the Ossan. Get lost."

"MORON! Do you think they're going to listen to that?! They're wild and savage monkeys!" Usopp yelled. "Don't you see them? Make for the hills! Hurry and escape through the windo-"

"YOU GUYS ARE TOO KIND!" Masira and Shojo moaned, crying. Hoshi thought that was the fasted mood change she had ever seen.

Usopp and Chopper fell down. "**THEY ACTUALLY LISTENED**."

Later, Luffy, Hoshi, and the monkeys were talking like old friends outside.

"So do you both live here with Ossan?" Luffy asked.

"Well, Oyassan's house is also the base of the Allied Saruyama (Monkey Mountain) Forces…" Masira began.

"… but we usually sleep on our own ships. The house is too small for us," Shojo explained.

"You guys are big!" Luffy said. "But compared to the giant Ossans earlier, you both are earwax!"

"No, no, they would be boogers," Hoshi corrected. Then everyone fell over laughing.

Usopp sweatdropped. "How can those four become friends so easily?" he asked Zoro hopelessly.

"They must have a lot in common," was Zoro's answer. Listening to Hoshi laughing, he felt another bout of light-headedness coming. Growling, he warded it off by getting to his feet and doing a sword exercise.

"I'm amazed you little guys could kick Masira so high in the sky though," Shojo was saying.

"You think so? It's easy for us… I bet a big guy like you could do it too!" Hoshi said.

"Really?" Shojo looked at his brother thoughtfully.

"Yup!" Luffy said. "You should try it!"

"Luffy! Hoshi! The ossan's woken up!" Nami called from the doorway.

Hoshi and Luffy ran in to see what Cricket was going to do, followed by Usopp and Zoro.

Shojo hooked his foot under Masira's butt and kicked. Masira flew yelling until he became a little star in the sky for the second time that day. "Oh. You guys are right. He really does fly!" Shojo exclaimed happily.

"Diamond-head ossan, we have something to ask you!" Luffy said.

Cricket lit a cigarette and took a blow. "Sorry for the trouble you all. I thought you guys were like the other idiots who were after my gold," he said.

"Gold?" Nami asked, her eyes turning to Beli signs.

Hoshi gently bumped Nami on the head. "Oi, don't."

"So? You all had something you wanted to ask me?"

Luffy answered immediately. "Ossan! We want to go to Sky Island! Tell us how to get there!"

Cricket narrowed his eyes and glanced at Luffy. "Sky Island?" He burst into laugher. "You guys believe in Sky Island!?"

"OI!!" Nami roared. Usopp hung off her fist.

"Don't do it Nami! He's sick!"

"You mean there's no such thing as Sky Island Ossan?" Luffy demanded.

"Well now… I know one guy who said it existed…" Cricket began, sticking his cigarette into his mouth again. "But he's famous for being a great liar. And his family and descendents that carry on his name have been a laughingstock ever since."

Luffy turned, mouth open and eyes wide, to face Usopp.

"IT'S NOT ME!" Usopp yelled.

"It's a story that everyone in North Blue has heard… 'Liar Norland'."

Luffy turned, mouth open and eyes wide, to face Usopp.

"I TOLD YOU IT'S NOT ME!" Usopp yelled. "AND THE NAMES ARE DIFFERENT BESIDES!"

Sanji looked up. "Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I remember that his full name was Montblanc Norland… are you related to him?"

"So you're his descendent?" Nami asked. "And this island was the setting for that story?"

Cricket sighed. "He's my grandfather's grandfather's… grandfather, or something like that… a very distant ancestor. His story gave me a whole ton of problems. At the time, the Montblanc family was exiled and forced to live in shame. The abuse that they got from the public still continues today… but no one in our family hates him."

"Why?" Hoshi asked.

"Because Montblanc Norland was the rarest of things that you will find in any era… an honest man."

Hoshi narrowed her eyes as the rest of the crew made questioning noises.

"On the last page of the picture book, they show him saying his last words with the grin of an idiot… but the truth was, he died with tears of regret flowing down his face. The setting of that book really is Jaya… where Norland first discovered the city of gold. I can't accept that it was all just an illusion. Norland wouldn't have risked 2000 lives, and that of his king, over something that he had dreamed. But no one believed him. He was executed in front of a huge crowd laughing and mocking him. The great explorer was lost… only the name 'Liar' remained."

"I see!" Usopp exclaimed. "So you're here trying to discover the lost city and reclaim your family's hono-"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP!" Cricket shouted, firing a hole into the wall where Usopp's head had been. Usopp had ducked in time, but now slid to the floor, trembling.

"Whether or not that man was honest or a liar or a great explorer… it has nothing to do with me!" Cricket roared. "Do you know what it's like for a kid to be jeered and taunted by everyone because he has the blood of an idio-" He stopped short.

Hoshi had cracked her whip in front of Cricket's face. "Calm down man," she told him in a soft, deadly voice. "Don't go around playing with toys like that to vent your anger. It'll be very bad for you if you happen to hurt one of my nakama." There was dead silence in the room.

Cricket looked at the ice in her eyes, and he calmed down a bit. "Thanks kid… you're right. I shouldn't let my temper run away with me like that."

"Anytime," she replied, letting her whip vanish. The ice in her eyes thawed a bit.

Cricket took a deep breath to steady his nerves before continuing. "You are partially right," he told Usopp. "Countless members of our family have come here to try and reclaim the family's honor. But as for me… I was ashamed of my family. I ran away and became a pirate."

"Oh! So you're a pirate, ossan?" Luffy asked.

"It's not like I wanted to be one. When we got lost at sea during a storm, about ten years ago… we landed here, on Jaya, the last place I wanted to see. As I stood on the rocky cape you came around, I said to myself, 'This is fate'. My crew left me here. They didn't want anything to do with my family's problems. If it exists, that's fine. If it doesn't exist, that's fine too. This is a battle between me and the man who ruined my life!"

There was a silence as the Straw Hats felt a new respect growing for the man sitting in front of them… except for Usopp, who was crying his eyes out.

"Y-you're a t-true m-man!" Usopp bawled.

"Oh, by the way, how did the monkeys get here?" Luffy said.

"I-it must have b-been an-another incredible d-drama of m-men struggling a-against the o-oceans depths, t-told through the f-fists!" Usopp sobbed.

Cricket lowered his head and closed his eyes. "They're fans of the book."

"FANS??" Usopp fell down.

Hoshi laughed.

Nami sweatdropped. "That's quite a simple relationship you guys have…"

Cricket chuckled. "It was about five or six years ago. They just came and barged onto my land after hearing rumors about me. They said, 'We think that Norland's gold really exists!'"

Hoshi heard the two monkeys arguing outside.

"SHOJO!" Masira yelled. "You'd better be ready to die for kicking me like that!"

"Bring it on brother!" Shojo challenged. "But you don't want to see me angry!!"

Cricket continued. "The ocean around here is deep. The solitary feeling that haunts me gets worse in the cold and dark of the sea… Day after day, I would dive and search down there, all alone. Then those two just simply barged into my life, proclaimed themselves my followers, and started rampaging around. Watching such simple hearted idiots, honestly… those two saved my life. Do you get what I mean?"

Aqua eyes scanned the room, and locked onto a picture on the wall. Cricket was standing between the two monkeys, Masira and Shojo barely fitting into the frame.

Nami, Zoro, Chopper, and Sanji all remembered how Luffy had gotten them to join his crew… it was basically the same. Luffy had barged into their lives, proclaimed them to be part of his crew, and started rampaging around… and he had saved all their lives in one way or another.

Usopp started crying again. "I see, so that's how it is…"

"Well," Luffy said, "Enough about the monkeys-"

"THEN DON'T ASK ABOUT THEM!" Usopp yelled, punching Luffy in the face. "YOU BROUGHT IT UP!"

"LIKE I SAID," Luffy said, grabbing Usopp's head and throwing him aside, "Ossan, we want to get to Sky Island!"

"You're a pretty impatient guy," Cricket grinned. "Didn't you hear me before? The only testimony about Sky Island is from Liar Norland. You mess with him, you become the laughingstock that he was," he said, reaching for a book.

"Ah! So he went to Sky Island!?" Luffy exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, he never wrote anything about getting there…" Cricket answered, flipping through it.

"Hey, is that a ship's log?" Nami asked, leaning forward to see.

"Yup. It's Norland's," Cricket replied, flipping to a certain page. He tossed the book at Nami once he found the page he wanted. "Here, read that."

Hoshi felt uneasy. The chill that had bitten her back was steadily creeping up her spine. She knew something bad was going to happen… soon. The voice in her mind, the phoenix inside her, was singing urgently to her. Hoshi ground her teeth in annoyance. Did the damn phoenix know how to talk? It did nothing but either stay quiet or sing.

AHH! It's finally a solid tie to Sky Island! The Straw Hats are going to get to the sky! What's with the chill that Hoshi's getting? What's going to happen next?


	10. A Road to the Sky

Author's Note: Special treat... two chapters in one day! This is to make up for being really behind!

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece, get the point

Chapter Ten: A Road to the Sky

Nami read aloud from Norland's log. "'Year of Sea 1120, June 21st, clear weather. We've departed the cheerful town of Villa. Following the Log Post, we left port and headed northeast. We got a very curious artifact from a passing merchant this afternoon. It's called a 'Waver', a one-person ship that sort of looks like a ski. It is powered by its own wind, even if there is none on the sea. I could not control it well, as it requires a remarkable amount of skill. It's become the crew's favorite recreational activity.' Wow, I want one of those!"

"Nevermind that, keep reading!" Usopp, Luffy, Chopper, and Hoshi all exclaimed, crowding around the book.

Nami continued. "'I was told that the only place that has this kind of engine is Sky Island. Apparently, there are many strange things like that up there. Speaking of Sky Island, one of my explorers showed me a living Skyfish.'"

Sanji's ears perked up like little daisies. "Skyfish?"

"'I cannot tell you how surprised I was to see such a fish. It's a place our ship has never explored, but someday as a sailor, I want to visit this sea in the sky. –Montblanc Norland' A sea in the sky!" Nami exclaimed.

"Just like Robin said!" Hoshi celebrated.

"And he was talking like everyone knew about Sky Island back then!" Usopp sang.

"So it really does exist!" Chopper yelled.

"YAHOO!! YOSH, THERE'S A SEA IN THE SKY!! LET'S GO TO SKY ISLAND!" Luffy shouted. They all started dancing around with glee and shouting their heads off.

Cricket walked out of the house, a grin on his face as he listened to the crazy kids celebrating. He went up to the fighting monkeys.

"Oh, Oyassan! You're alright!" Masira greeted.

"Couldn't be better!" Cricket replied.

"That's great!" Shojo said. "Oyassan, this guy has be-"

"Listen up you two! Do you like those kids?"

The monkeys stopped fighting, surprised by the question. "What makes you ask that?" Shojo asked.

"It looks like they really want to get to Sky Island," Cricket grinned.

"Sky Island? Well if they're going, there's only one way to get there," Shojo remarked.

"But it'll be instant death for them if they try it alone!" Masira said, alarmed.

"That's why I asked you. What do you say to giving them a hand?" Cricket asked.

The monkeys cracked their knuckles and grinned widely. "LET'S DO IT!"

Inside, the chill grabbed Hoshi's spine again, and she suddenly shivered.

"What's wrong Hoshi?" Zoro asked. "You catching a cold or something?"

"No… but something's coming…"

"HEY YOU KIDS! C'MON OUT HERE A MINUTE!" Cricket roared from outside.

The Straw Hats obediently settled on a tree stump outside the house and prepared to listen… except Zoro, who had gone to sleep.

"Listen up," Cricket began. "I'm going to tell you everything I know about Sky Island. I don't know how much of it is true, and it's your choice if you want to believe me or not."

"YOSH. I believe you!" Luffy immediately said. Usopp hit him on the head.

Cricket continued. "There's something peculiar that happens in this part of the sea. Sometimes," he said, pointing out over the sea, "a portion of the ocean will suddenly turn as dark as night, even in the middle of the day."

Luffy raised his hand. "That happened to us!" he exclaimed. "Right?"

"Yeah," agreed Usopp. "And then suddenly these giants appeared out of nowhere!"

"The giants?" Cricket asked. "Well, there's a story about where they come from, but that's not important right now. The true nature of that sudden nightfall… it is the shadow of a massively dense cloud."

"Cumulonimbus?" Nami inquired. "But those clouds don't turn day into night!"

"Ossan, you're so stupid," Hoshi piped up. "On a day where there's lots of clouds, it's cloudy."

"That's right!" Luffy exclaimed.

"SHUT UP!" Cricket roared, stress marks appearing on his head. "Cumulorgalis. That is the name of that cloud. It forms high in the sky, and forms no air currents and never rains. Several accounts state that cumulorgalis clouds remain unchanged for tens of thousands of years… a sort of petrified cloud.

"But… that's impossible!" Nami exclaimed.

"What did I tell you about that word Nami?" Hoshi reprimanded. "On this sea, there is no such word."

Cricket shrugged. "You're free to think that it doesn't exist," he told Nami.

"So it's a Mystery Cloud," Luffy muttered.

"That's about right," Cricket said. "There's no rational explanation for its existence. Understand? If Sky Island exists, that's the only place it could be!"

"Oh, I see!" Luffy said standing up. "Thanks Ossan!"

Hoshi and Usopp and Chopper all started dancing around. "HARD TURN TO THE CLOUDS!" they sang.

"Zoro, wake up!" Hoshi said, playfully punching him in the head.

"Eh? Morning already?" he asked.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET THERE?!" Nami roared. She punched Luffy and Usopp to a pulp, and Hoshi and Chopper just flattened themselves against the side of the house, trying to be invisible.

"Now the main problem," Cricket muttered. "There's a vertically flowing current, called the Knock-Up Stream. If you can get on that current, you'll get to Sky Island… at least, that's the theory."

"It's a current that'll knock our ship into the air, right?" Nami clarified.

"So we just have to get blown up to the clouds!" Luffy shouted.

A little thought bubble appeared over Chopper's head as he visualized the Going Merry being thrown up into the sky.

"But we've heard that ships that go up only fall back into the ocean!" Nami said. The Going Merry in Chopper's thought bubble crashed back into the sea and broke into a million pieces. Tears started to run out his eyes.

"It's all about getting the timing right," Cricket explained. "First, there's the problem of getting ON the current, and STAYING on it. It's not a nice, easy ride all the way up there. Meeting the Knock-Up Stream is a disaster. By its nature, it's actually a thing to be avoided at all costs." Luffy and Hoshi had stars in their eyes.

"But what makes it able to reach the sky? I've never heard anything like it before," Nami said.

Cricket blew out a smoke cloud. "It's not beyond reasoning, the principle behind that current. But no one's ever been stupid enough to dive down to investigate it. In theory, there are huge, cave-like pockets of air trapped in the ocean floor. Sometimes cool seawater leaks in. The geothermal pressure from below makes that seawater into a high-pressure steam, and an explosion occurs. The explosion up heaves the ocean water and blasts it into the sky. So for approximately one minute, the sea is connected to the sky." He paused for a minute.

"Yeah… Mystery Explosion," Luffy commented. Nami and Hoshi whacked him on the head.

"One minute!? What sort of insane explosion can cause that?!" Nami exclaimed, turning back to Cricket.

"The location of the explosion is different every time… and it happens about five times a month."

"That makes sense, since the pressure needed for that big an explosion needs to be built up over time," Hoshi stated.

"W-we'd be blown to smithereens," Usopp stuttered, eyes bugging out.

"Well, it's a magnificent natural phenomenon," Cricket shrugged. "Trying to reason it out with talk and theories is pointless."

"S-so this is really… the only way to get to Sky Island?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, and you guys are the ones at a disadvantage," Cricket told him. "If there's nothing to land on, you guys come back crashing down and become bits of seaweed in the ocean."

"So the Knock-Up Stream has to be present at the same time the cumulorgalis cloud is there," Hoshi murmured. "That'll have to take a bit of luck."

"Yosh! Let's give up on Sky Island!" Usopp nervously laughed. Luffy was laughing, and Usopp's eyes went wide. "Y-you're not p-possibly thinking… THIS IS CRAZY! We'd have to be the luckiest of the luckiest of the luckiest of the luckiest to make it!"

"As I've said before though," Hoshi grinned, pointing to Luffy. "That guy has all the dumb luck we need."

"It'll be okay!" Luffy laughed. "Let's go!"

"I knew it…" Usopp cried, tears running down his face. "Don't say such groundless things! I mean, just look at the state of Merry! She'll never make it up there!"

"Even if that ship was brand new, it would never make it." Cricket blew another smoke cloud. "Speed, weight, size, power… it doesn't matter. That ship would be blown up right along with the current."

"See!" Usopp cried triumphantly.

"But you guys don't need to worry about that!" Cricket laughed. "I'll have Masira and Shojo refit your ship."

"Leave it to us!" the monkeys yelled from the windows of the house.

"Thanks you two!" Hoshi called, waving back. Nami and Usopp sweatdropped.

"But we can't stay on this island for that much longer!" Nami pointed out. "At most, we can stay here another day before the Log readapts."

"T-that's right!" Usopp said. "We won't make it in time! Hey, Ossan, when is the next Knock-Up Stream happening?"

"Tomorrow."

"See! I told you we wouldn't make i- hey wait, what did you say?"

"If you guys are going, you'd better get ready."

"YOU MEAN WE'LL MAKE IT?!"

Usopp put his foot down. "Just a second… there's something suspicious about all this! We just met you today! Why are you being so nice and sharing all this information with us? And how is it that we possibly got here in time for the next current? It's just all too convenient! What are you plotting?"

Dead silence. Hoshi thought back to her chills, and wondered if this was it… that Cricket had been lying to them all along…

"Oyassan! Lunch is ready!" the monkeys bellowed. Sanji pushed his way though them and out the door. Hoshi was surprised at how small Sanji seemed to be next to the monkeys.

"Ladies! I've made a special course just for y…" Sanji trailed off as he realized there was something happening.

Cricket sucked on his cigarette. "Masira's recorded that whenever sudden night falls on his territory, he sees a cumulorgalis cloud to the south. Also, simply based on it's regularity of occurring five times a month, I'm guessing that the Knock-Up Stream will occur tomorrow. That is also south of here. I'm not completely sure, but there's a high probability that those two events will coincide." Cricket started walking toward his house. Usopp started sweating.

Luffy and Zoro grinned. Hoshi smiled.

Cricket said with a smile on his face: "I'm glad to have met a bunch of idiots like you all."

Usopp started trembling.

"Now… it's time to eat. I want you all to enjoy yourselves at my home… my nakama."

"YOSH! Food! Let's go Usopp!" Luffy yelled.

"Chopper! Call Robin-chan!"

"Okay!"

Nami walked up to Usopp, who had fallen to his knees. "The best we can do is to try and befriend him if we want to get to the sky… but it just all boils down to luck in the end."

"That's true," Hoshi agreed with a laugh. "Lucky that we have the most simple-minded captain on the Grand Line who's just chock full of the stuff."

"Nami? Hoshi? Am I… just a miserable coward?" Usopp asked.

"And an idiot to boot."

"Nami! Be nice!"

"Now go apologize to the Ossan," Nami said, ignoring Hoshi.

Usopp clenched his teeth and got to his feet. He ran to Cricket and gave him a hug. "OYASSAN!! I'M SORRY!" he cried.

"Oi, what are you talking about!? Get off me! Disgusting, you're getting snot on me!!! Dumbass!"

Hoshi laughed until she cried.

That night, the Straw Hats partied with Cricket and the monkeys in Cricket's house. It was VERY crowded.

"Ah! The rum tastes great today!" Cricket bellowed.

"Eat up! Eat up! I'll keep the food coming! There's still a whole course of pike to come!" Sanji told the party animals. Chopper stuck chopsticks in his nose, and Hoshi was turning red in the face from laughing so hard.

"Here." Usopp gave Masira a little red ball. "Eat it!"

Masira ate it… and fire came out of his mouth. "AHH!"

"HAHA! You fell for it, you salvaging idiot! That was my Tabasco Bomber!" Usopp yelled, laughing.

"GET BACK HERE YOU IDIOT NAGAHANA (long nose)! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!!!"

"Oi, nee-chan! Come and sit by me!" Cricket roared to Hoshi, throwing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close, earning a polished shoe caving in his face... Sanji's. Zoro growled and slammed down his cup.

"Man, you're 100 years too late to be hitting on Hoshi-chan!" Sanji told him.

"Ossan, I think you're drunk," Hoshi informed Cricket, pulling away with a grimance. He laughed like a maniac.

"So I am!!"

Zoro and Shojo had a drinking contest… which Zoro won.

Hoshi looked over to the corner, and spotted Robin sitting there, not taking part in the festivities but looking through Norland's log book instead. Hoshi walked over to Robin and perched on the box Robin was leaning on. "What'cha doing here Robin?" she asked cheerily.

Robin looked up and smiled. She was about to answer when suddenly Cricket, seeing what page she was on, crouched in front of her and intoned, "THE SKULL'S RIGHT EYE IS WHERE I SAW THE GOLD!"

Everyone fell silent. "Blotted with tears, those are the last words Norland wrote in his logbook," Cricket explained. "'The skull's right eye is where I saw the gold.'… even after coming here, I still don't understand what he meant by that… Maybe it was a name of an ancient city here once, or a metaphor for his own death… The blank pages that follow tell us nothing. That's why we dive!!" Cricket finished, then chugged from his wine bottle.

"Ossan, you really ARE drunk," Hoshi said.

"Thank you!"

"Well, we're going to fly!" said Luffy through a mouthful of food.

"We're never going to fly if you keep eating so much!" Nami shouted.

Hoshi felt the chill again, only this time, it didn't creep up her spine, but it was like a lightning bolt though her whole body. She got up and half-opened one of the window blinds, but she couldn't see anything.

"Oi, Hoshi, what's wrong?" Zoro asked, noting the strange gesture.

"… Nothing…" Hoshi said, but not really sounding sincere at all. Zoro frowned, but he didn't say anything.

"NORLAND! NORLAND!" sang the monkeys, hearts in their eyes. The Straw Hats gathered around in a circle to listen to the narration.

Cricket took the book from Robin and was a random passage from it. "Upon landing on Jaya, we heard the call of a peculiar bird calling from the forest, and the sound of a very, very large bell striking. The sound of that great golden bell was carried far and wide, as if it was signaling the prosperity of an age long past. The fleeting sound that, upon this wide and vast sea, a prosperous civilization bloomed.

"'For us, who have lived but mere decades, there are no words fit to describe it. We were spellbound by the ringing of that bell!" Cricket stood up and roared to let out his feelings.

Hoshi sweatdropped. "You really ARE drunk."

The Straw Hats have found a way to get to the sky! They're going to get to the sky!! But will they survive the journey? And what is with the chill that keeps bothering Hoshi?


	11. Southbird Hunting

Author's Note: chapter eleven here! hurrah! almost done, just a couple more chapts. then the next story will come!

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece

Chapter 11: Southbird Hunting

"How wonderful! A golden bell!" Nami exclaimed.

"Ossan, what's the deal? You DO like Norland!" Usopp said.

"Only when I'm drunk!" Cricket roared. Then calming down, he reached behind him. "Here, look at this." He reached behind him and uncovered three golden bells, about the size of his own head. Nami immediately picked one up and rubbed her cheek against it, eyes turning to Beli signs.

"So… what's very large about them?" Usopp asked.

"Oh, these aren't the real bell. They're bell-shaped ingots I found while diving."

"Oho! So the city of gold does exist!" Luffy exclaimed.

"NOT TRUE!" Shojo said, raising his hand. "You could find ingots like that at any old ruin in the world."

"But it does prove that there was a civilization here once," Robin pointed out. "Ingots were designed to divide up gold into gram masses, meaning that there was trade and commerce here," she explained, still ever much the historian.

"Wow Robin, you sure know a lot!" Hoshi said. "How do you do that?" Robin smiled.

"It's just a matter of putting all the puzzle pieces together," she said.

"Right-o! And as for the call of that strange bird… Masira! Show them!" Cricket called.

Obediently, Masira uncovered another gold artifact. It was a sculpture of a strange bird with a huge beak, perched on a gold base.

"Oh! There was more!" Zoro said, gulping some more beer.

"It's beautiful!" Hoshi murmured softly.

"That's all I've found," Cricket said. "These four things are the results of 10 hard years of diving!"

"Golden bells and birds… those might be the symbols of ancient Jaya," Sanji commented.

"I'm not sure, but I think this may have been part of an ancient molding," Cricket explained, pulling the bird closer to him. "This is a Southbird, and it lives right here on this island."

"And it sounds weird when it calls?" Luffy asked, leaning in for a closer look. Cricket nodded.

"Yes, just like it says in the logbook."

Masira cut in. "Southbirds have been used since ancient times to- AHH!"

Suddenly, Shojo, Masira, and Cricket all traded horrified looks. "OH DAMN!!"

"What!? What's wrong!?" Hoshi shouted.

"This is bad, you guys have to go NOW! Head to the forest to the south!" Cricket yelled.

"Huh? What are you talking about Ossan? Have you lost it?" Luffy asked.

"You guys need to catch one of these birds!" Cricket explained furiously. "Listen carefully! Tomorrow, you guys are going to sail for the Knock-Up Stream, but this is the Grand Line! When you loose sight of land, you loose all sense of direction! And Log Posts aren't compasses!"

"Then how do we get there?" Nami asked.

"You have to make use of this bird's special trait. Certain animals evolve with acute senses of direction."

Luffy laughed. "So that would make Zoro less evolved than an animal!"

"Shut up!" Zoro yelled. "You're the LAST one who can tell me that!!" Hoshi roared with laugher, clutching her belly, and Zoro felt heat rising to his face. He growled and clenched his fists. What was with him lately?!

"The Southbird is the most extreme example of this trait," Cricket continued, ignoring the fighting pair. "No matter how big a stretch of land is, or how much the sea tosses and turns, the Southbird will remain pointed in a single direction." He stopped for a moment to let this info sink in

"Anyway, you guys have to go out and catch one, now! Or you'll loose your chance for getting to Sky Island!"

Hoshi, Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy all screamed. "WHY ARE YOU ONLY TELLING US THIS NOW?!"

Everyone rushed out the door. "But how are we going to find a bird in the jungle in the middle of the night?" Usopp asked. "It's dark out and you want us to go tramping through the woods?"

"Dunno. You guys figure it out," Cricket said, tossing them three nets. "We're going to get to work on your beat-up ship. In the light of common sense, we really shouldn't have had that party! Now listen! You guys only have until dawn to catch that bird! Understand?"

"Yosh, we got it Ossan," Hoshi called cheerfully, helping Zoro drag an unwilling Usopp into the forest.

Hoshi suddenly got another attack of chills, and her phoenix half chimed angrily. _Shut up you stupid bird_! Hoshi raged at it. But the sinking feeling in her stomach told her that one of them should've stayed behind with the Ossan…

Later, the eight of them were walking through the forest together. "Ohhhh… it's pitch black!" Usopp moaned, clinging to Sanji's suit.

"Get off me you parasite!" Sanji growled.

"Urgh… I ate so much I can't move very well," Chopper groaned. "I'm not sure I can catch the bird…"

"Where is that weird bird?" asked Luffy. "WEIRD BIIIIRD!" he called.

"Shut up!" everyone hissed. "We'll never find one if you scare it away!"

"Damn it, how did things get so out of hand?" Nami muttered to herself.

"Maybe when you decided to join this crew in the first place?" Hoshi suggested.

"And what about YOU!?" Nami demanded.

Hoshi grinned and laughed. "I'm having the time of my life here!"

Nami fell down.

"Ah… where's that weird bird?" Luffy asked Zoro.

"If we knew where it was, we wouldn't have to be out here!" Zoro growled.

The guys (Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy) gathered around in a circle. "The only clue we have is that the weird bird has a weird call," Luffy said.

"And it looks like that gold statue in the ossan's house," Sanji added.

"Are there really birds that look that screwy?" Zoro asked.

"And saying it has a weird call is too vague! How are we supposed to tell?" Usopp asked.

Suddenly, a weird call came floating though the forest. _Jyyyyyoooooooo…_

"WHOA! What a weird call!" the four said simultaneously.

"I think… that's it…" Hoshi said.

"Yosh! Now that we all know what it sounds like, let's go!" Luffy shouted.

"We've got three nets. Let's split into three teams and search," Sanji suggested. The crew agreed. Chopper went off after Luffy.

"Yosh! We're gonna kick that weird bird's ass!" Luffy cried happily.

"No no Luffy! We just want to catch it!" Usopp called after Luffy.

Sanji, Nami, and Usopp all went a different direction, and Hoshi, Zoro, and Robin went in another.

After about five minutes, Hoshi perked her ears up. "I hear screaming," she commented.

"Leave 'em. They'll be fine," Zoro said, glancing in her direction… and spotting a centipede about to grab her neck with vicious pinchers.

"Don't move!" Zoro commanded, running towards her. She froze, and he unsheathed his swords and slashed the bug in one slash. Maybe he'd overreacted but…

"Dammit, it's freaking huge!" Zoro exclaimed, picking up the five-foot long centipede by an antenna.

"You really shouldn't go around killing everything we come across, the poor things," Robin commented.

"Doesn't matter… it's their fault for coming after Ho- us in the first place," Zoro retorted. He started walking off.

"But…" Robin said.

"What is it?" Zoro asked gruffly.

"Isn't that the way we just came from?" Hoshi asked him, finishing Robin's sentence. Blue lines appeared on Zoro's forehead.

_Jiyyyoooo…_

"The bird's call!" Robin exclaimed.

"It came from over there!" Hoshi yelled. She let out her wings and flew in the direction of the sound. "Look out for that quagmire!" she called over her shoulder.

Robin hurried to follow. Hoshi's flight was slow, as she scanned the branches for the Southbird.

"Oi, just wait up a se-" Zoro stepped into the quagmire.

"Zoro!" Hoshi yelled in alarm. She quickly flew to the quagmire and grabbed Zoro's hand before he disappeared. He came up, covered from head to toe in mud.

"Geez, listen to what I tell you!" Hoshi growled at him as she sharply banked and placed him on the ground. She hovered over him. "I told you to watch out for that quagmire!" Hoshi was about to tell him off a little more, but another chill shot through her body, and the phoenix chime resounded through her mind so loudly that she lost her vision. _Listen!_ it shrieked. _The ossan! Chestnut!_ The phoenix forced her to pull her wings in an attempt to get her attention, and she fell to the ground on her butt.

"Hoshi! What's w-"

"Ouch! Damn phoenix, just shut up!" Hoshi yelled angrily into the air. In retaliation, the phoenix chimed again, even more loudly, then sulkily retreated to the little corner of her mind where it lived.

"Um, Hoshi… you okay?" Zoro asked warily.

"Yeah… damn phoenix just won't shut up though," she replied. She got up and dusted off her pants. "It's learning how to talk… wonderful. That's just what I need, a little voice inside my head. OUCH!" she yelled as the phoenix chimed, jabbing the sound like a spear. _I heard that_.

Hoshi refused to reply to it.

Robin called back, "Are you two alright?"

"We're good," Hoshi called. She grinned apologetically at Zoro. "Sorry about that."

Zoro felt heat rushing to his face. _Damn, what is the matter with me?!_ "No problem…"

Suddenly, the call cut the forest again. _Jiyyyyooooo…_

"Listen!" Robin said. "It's that bird!"

"Hang on… I hear another sound…" Hoshi muttered. It was a thumping sound, like a million soft footsteps…

"Oh my. It seems that an oversized cicada army is coming to attack us," Robin commented. Hoshi looked in the direction she was pointing… and saw she was right.

Hoshi drew her whip from the air, and Zoro growled, drawing his blade. An army of two-meter tall cicadas rushed towards them. Hoshi got hearts in her eyes. "AH! SO CUTE!!" she cried.

Zoro thought the phoenix must've messed up her head. If large panda-eyes was all it took for a bug to be cute…

"Well they might be cute, but they're in our way!" Zoro growled.

"Yeah, guess there's no helping that…" Hoshi said.

They took their stances and attacked. Zoro was still irritated about Robin's remark on him killing everything, so he just beat them all up with the flats of his blades. Hoshi cracked her whip lightly over their heads to knock them out.

Ten minutes later, they were still going at it.

"Damn it, there's no end to this!" Zoro growled. "What's with the cricket army? Do you honestly think you can beat me? Eh?" he asked one of the cicadas. He bopped it on the head.

"Zoro! There's more coming!" Hoshi yelled.

"You mean the fireflies over there?"

"No! The cockroaches!"

"What about the slugs over there?" Robin asked.

"Hornets too?!" Zoro yelled in frustration.

"What's up with the pigs?" Hoshi screamed.

It was wave after wave of attackers from the forest. Through it all, Hoshi heard the bird's call. _Jiyoooo… jiyoooo…_

"That bird's to blame! It's the control tower for all this!" Hoshi suddenly realized.

"We should go back and see if any of the others have had any luck," Robin said. "We'll never find the bird in all this."

"That's just what it wants, isn't it?" Hoshi growled.

Later, the crew met up together. No one had any luck.

"We didn't even see a single one," Nami sighed.

"We saw one, but we couldn't get to it 'cause of all the bugs!" Chopper gasped.

"Man, eight of us and we pull a big zero!?" Usopp exclaimed. "Get it together guys!"

"You too," Sanji exploded at him.

_Jiyooo…_

The bird flew and landed right on the tree next to them. It started hopping around on its branch, making noises.

"'You all will never catch me. Moooroons,'" Chopper translated.

"What was that? You just came here to gloat?" Hoshi asked, leaning back on the tree.

"Dammit, I'm going to shoot you down!" Usopp yelled.

Two arms sprouted around the bird, and a third threw it down. "If I can see it…" Robin said. Everyone sweatdropped.

Hoshi suddenly gasped and bent over, sweating, as the phoenix clamped her mind in its beak and started chomping on it. It was incredibly painful. _CHESTNUT OSSAN!_ it screeched in her mind.

"Hoshi! What's wrong?" Zoro asked, running over to her.

"P… phoenix…" she gasped. She felt like her head was being split in two. _GO TO CHESTNUT OSSAN!!_

"It wants… us… to go back… to the ossan…" Hoshi gasped.

"Hmm? Why would it want that?" Sanji asked.

Hoshi just shook her head. Listen phoenix, she told it silently. If you keep screeching in my head like that, I can't get to the ossan! "It's still learning how to talk," Hoshi explained. "I don't think its vocabulary is that big yet."

The screeches instantly died down. _Go to chestnut ossan, _the phoenix told her gently. Then it held a note on a low tremolo. Hoshi felt as though she had swallowed a warm drink, and her headache suddenly stopped. Zoro watched her haul herself into a standing position again and grin at the crew.

"Yosh! Let's go to the Ossan then!" Luffy said. "We've caught the weird bird!"

The captured Southbird protested the ill treatment.

Poor Hoshi! Now she has a weird voice inside her head! Why does it want her to go back to Cricket so badly? Did something happen? What's wrong with Cricket and the monkeys? They were just fixing up the Going Merry… right?


	12. Get the Gold

Author's Note: Look, this is going to be the last chapter I post until I get more reviews! I want at least three reviews per chapter before I continue, because I'm getting a little discouraged here, neh?

THANK YOU Rivermoore's Horse for being such a good reviewer, reviewing every chapter! I love you!

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece, never will, deal with it

Chapter 12: Get Back the Gold

"Ossan! Guess what?" Luffy called as they reached the edge of the forest. "We've got the bird! Hey Ossan! Where are y- Diamond-head Ossan! Masira! Shojo! What happened to you guys!?"

Cricket was badly beat up; Masira was covered with cuts and there was a huge gash in his back; Shojo was floating in the water unconscious… and Cricket's house had a huge hole in it. Zoro heard a sharp intake of breath, and saw Hoshi take a step back.

_See?_ asked the phoenix sadly.

Hoshi knew this is what her gut had been trying to warn her about… this was the source of all her chills and this was why the phoenix had been screeching in her head.

"What the hell happened here!?" Sanji exclaimed. He jumped into the water and dragged Shojo to shore. Chopper took charge and began barking out directions for the trio's treatment.

_Mental note to self: Pay more attention to gut_ Hoshi thought fiercely as she helped treat the monkeys with an impassive face. The phoenix remained silent.

"WHAT THE HELL!!" Usopp yelled. "THE GOING MERRY… MERRY!! WHO DID THIS TO YOU!?!?" Merry was split in half right down to her hull.

"Sor…ry…" gasped Cricket.

"You're awake!" Luffy said, relief in his face.

"Oi! Don't talk! Just rest!" Hoshi told Cricket, putting a wet towel on his forehead. "You shouldn't be saying sorry… I should! I had a feeling this was going to happen! And still… and still…" Hoshi's eyes were shadowed, but her body was shaking… with rage? with remorse? Zoro thought it was both, and he thought he should do something to help her…

"I'm really…sorry! We were here… but we couldn't do anything…" Cricket gasped. He sat up against Hoshi's protests. "Never mind," he said, waving Hoshi off. "We still have time to strengthen your ship-"

"Just tell us what happened first!" Luffy demanded.

"Nah, it doesn't matter anymore. More importantly, did you all f-" Cricket cut himself off as he saw Zoro holding the Southbird by its feet. Cricket grinned feebly, then spat onto the grass. "That's good. Now we ca-"

"Luffy!" Nami called from the wreckage of the house. "The gold was stolen!!"

There was a frozen moment of shock through the clearing. Cricket coughed. "It… it doesn't matter. More importantly, you gu-"

"WHAT doesn't matter?!" Hoshi demanded. "You've strained your body, diving every day for ten years for that gold, and you say it… it doesn't matter?" she asked, her voice cracking. The phoenix screeched angrily with her.

"Shut up kid. This is our problem. The three of us in the Saruyama Alliance have our duties. Your ship is in no shape to sail right now, so we have to fix it up before morning! We're not giving up on helping you in your voyage! I swear… I'll get you all to Sky Island!"

"Oi Luffy, look at this." Zoro's voice cut through the night air. He was looking at what remained of the cardboard palace… where there was a crossed out smile painted onto the backside.

"That's Bellamy's sign!" Nami exclaimed.

Luffy got up, his hat covering his eyes.

"You going to need a hand?" Zoro asked.

"Nope. I'll be fine by myself."

"I'm coming!" Hoshi said in a fierce, quiet voice. Luffy took one look at her eyes, and he knew it would be of no use to argue. She grinned wolfishly. "You can have Bellamy, but I call the rest of the crew," she said with a wicked smile.

"Oi, you two, don't do anything stupid!" Nami told the both of them. "There're only three hours left until we sa-"

"If we follow the coast, we'll reach Mock town, right?" Hoshi asked Robin.

Robin smiled. "Yes."

"Let's go Hoshi," Luffy said. He started walking towards the coastline. Hoshi pulled out her wings.

"Right behind you," she replied, running the opposite direction.

"Hey, you guys, what are you doing?" Cricket asked, alarmed. "Don't mess around in our busi-" Zoro cut him off by offering Cricket his Maitou blade.

"If you want to stop those two, you're gonna have to use this," he told Cricket.

Luffy cracked the knuckles on one hand. "We'll be back by dawn," he promised. "With the gold."

Powered by her running start, Hoshi jumped six feet into the air before pushing down hard with her wings. She gained altitude, then turned around, following Luffy's gangly figure down the coastline.

Luffy ran so fast, even Hoshi on her wings had to put a little effort into keeping up. They traveled in silence for a while, and then she called to Luffy, "I can see the town!"

"How far?"

"Two kilometers."

"THAT BASTARD! He'd better be ready for what's coming to him!" Luffy roared, increasing his speed.

"I'm going to go ahead," Hoshi said. "I'll make sure Bellamy's crew doesn't bother you as you beat him up."

"Yosh, go ahead. I'll be counting on you!"

Hoshi gave Luffy a thumbs up, and then she flew, streaking through the sky like a ray of white lightning. She reached the dock in 30 seconds. Hovering a bit she looked at all the bars lining the docks.

"Damn, how am I supposed to find the one Bellamy's crew is in before Luffy gets here?" she muttered.

She spotted a guy relieving himself into the water, and she looked away, wincing. His voice floated up to her. "Not one drop more will come out. Man, I drank a lot todaaay! Oh god of booze, thank you! Oh wait… there's no such thing." The man laughed crazily as he pulled up his pants.

He spotted a sheaf of paper lying on the boardwalk. "Oh, the newspaper! Let's see… I wonder what bad news there is today! Eh… it's not the news paper… it's a bunch of wanted posters." The guy started flipping through them. "Oh! It's those guys from this afternoon. Wasn't there a girl with them too...? Oh here she is."

I have a wanted poster now? Hoshi wondered. Interesting.

"HA! I sure got a laugh out of them. What was the bounty of the one with the straw hat… 30 million I think…" he stared and squinted at Luffy's wanted poster and scratched his head. Suddenly his eyes widened, and he screamed, "AHH!!"

For some inexplicable reason, the man started panicking and running in circles. Hoshi thought she had met two drunk men too many today. But his next words caught her attention. "Bellamy has to hear about this! Bellamy! Bellamy!"

Hoshi gave off a wolf-like grin. "Bingo."

The man ran two pubs down and into the third. Hoshi followed on silent wings. She landed lightly on the roof, and listened to the conversation, waiting for the right moment…

Sarquiss' disgusting voice jarred her ears. "Hahaha! We sure got a laugh out of those two monkeys! 'Oyassan! Oyassan!' If he's that important to you, protect him!" he laughed. Hoshi clenched her fists and ground her teeth.

Lily's laugh cut Hoshi's ears like a knife. "Dweebs!"

"And those three from this afternoon! Idiots, the whole lot of them!"

"Bellamy!" That was the drunk man running inside. "That kid that you beat up… he's not worth 30 million, he's worth 100 million! And I bet he's going to come for revenge!!"

Dead silence. "100… 100 million… oh shit, what are we gonna do!?" one voice yelled.

Panic started breaking out until Bellamy's hyena laugh cut through the panic. "Hahahahahaa! The Marines are really becoming a charity, handing out 100 million for a worthless dreamer like him!!"

Hoshi couldn't stand listening to any more. She flew ten meters into the sky… then pulled in her wings. She shot straight down and punched a hole in the roof of the bar.

There was instant silence in the bar. Before the smoke cleared, Hoshi piped her cheerful angel's voice. "Good evening! Is this the bar where Bellamy's crew is?"

"Bitch, who the hell are you?" Bellamy coughed through the dust.

"Oh, I'm insulted. You don't remember me," Hoshi pouted. Lily caught a reflection of the light off of Hoshi's crystal and shrieked. "IT'S HER!!"

"Oh Lily-chan! You remember me! I'm touched."

"Bellamy! This is the girl from this afternoon!" Lily shrieked.

"Not my problem. You guys do what you want with her," Bellamy said nonchalantly. The men grinned nastily and began to move towards Hoshi. In ten seconds, she was surrounded.

"How fun! You all want to play?" she asked. One of the denser men answered.

"Yeah! Let's play!"

"Don't want to." Hoshi's whip appeared as if from nowhere, and caught six of them in the head at once. "I don't have time to play." The phoenix chuckled inside Hoshi's mind. _Now things will get interesting…_ it said. Hoshi rolled her eyes at it. How fast did it learn?

Bellamy finally turned around and gave her his attention. "Get her boys. It's only one woman."

Hoshi's whip whistled and cracked through the air, darting everywhere like a grey snake, biting and drawing blood.

"Geez, you guys always make me do everything myself," Sarquiss grumbled, standing. He pulled out his knife. "Move! I'll handle this."

Hoshi faced Sarquiss, her eyes shadowed. Sarquiss attacked with a yell. Hoshi blocked his downward chop with a whip that had suddenly transformed into a katana.

"Where is the gold that belongs to the ossan?" she asked in a dangerously soft voice.

Sarquiss grinned. "Why the hell would I tell you?"

"Because it would be better for your health." Aqua eyes caught and locked with Sarquiss' gaze. He started sweating. There was no mercy in the ice.

"Damn woman, looking at me like that!" Sarquiss yelled, twisting his knife to slice towards her face.

Hoshi calmly stepped to one side, and Sarquiss impaled one of his followers instead. "That's what happens when you loose control," she informed the shocked man.

Bellamy laughed. "You didn't look it this afternoon, but you're quite strong woman! How would you like to join my crew?"

Hoshi remembered something that the big man with cherry pies had said. "This New Age crap you guys talk about is _shit_," she relayed to Bellamy. A shocked silence filled the pub. Hoshi let the meaning sink in a little before continuing. "And anyhow, my captain is on his way to kick your ass. I don't want to be the follower of a loser."

Bellamy raised an eyebrow. "Straw Hat's coming, huh?"

"BELLAMY!!" The roar echoed all over the town.

Hoshi grinned. "Looks like he's here, and he's calling your name," she told Bellamy with a wolfish grin.

Bellamy walked out of the pub without another word. Luffy stood on top of the clock tower, waiting. The crew members that could still stand started for the door. They wanted to see the fun. Hoshi let them, but she kept Sarquiss at the point of her sword. "The gold," she asked him again. "Where is the gold? Tell me before I decide to rip the place apart."

Men yelling and Luffy yelling and Bellamy yelling came in through the door of the pub. It seemed the Bellamy-Luffy fight was a good show.

Sarquiss growled and ran from through the door. Hoshi let him. He had just as good as told her that she was allowed to rip the place apart. She changed her katana to a whip and started tearing the place apart. She found a sack with all the gold in it when she destroyed the floor and peered into the cellar. Picking it up, she went outside to watch the fun.

Luffy had made a spectacular hole in the boardwalk. The onlookers jeered. Bellamy was crouching on top of the clock tower with a crazy grin. "Don't tell me he's dead already!"

Hoshi called up to him, "Don't underestimate him."

"Eh? Oh it's you. I'll take care of you later."

"I don't think so," Hoshi grinned as Luffy stood up.

"I'm not ready for you to kick it just yet anyways!" Bellamy cackled. "I'm just about to start the real show! Bane Bane Ability… Spring Hopper!" he yelled as his legs changed to springs.

_Devil's Fruit user?_ the phoenix inquired. Yup, Hoshi told it.

Bellamy's legs turned into springs, and he started bouncing around the square so fast that no one could see him anymore. He was too fast to follow with the naked eye. Hoshi was taken by surprise as Bellamy punched her in the head as he passed, and with all the acceleration backing the punch... she flew twenty five meters before slamming into the wall of the clock tower. She disappeared in a cloud of dust as the part of the wall collapsed on top of her.

"HOSHI!" Luffy bellowed, eyes wide. "BASTARD! How dare you hurt Hoshi, damn you…"

Back at the ship, Zoro felt a chill rush up his spine. _Hoshi_, he immediately thought.

"Oho! Was she your girlfriend Straw Hat? Sorry about that!" Bellamy's voice echoed from all around the square. "If losers like that old man and his monkeys are your friends, you must have the worst crew ever! Oh I see, you all must be the same species! A pack of idiots who believe in the words of some 400 year old ancestor!"

Hoshi stirred feebly under the wreckage. "Hoshi, you alright?" Luffy asked, his eyes hidden under his hair. She spit out some blood on the floor.

"Somehow," she replied. "No broken bones."

"What City of Gold? What Sky Island? The era of dreams is over! YOU ALL ARE DISGRACES TO THE NAME OF PIRATES!!" Bellamy roared.

"Do I know how to throw a punch?" Luffy asked, holding up a fist. Hoshi suddenly shivered in the aura of Luffy's anger.

The onlookers hooted and jeered. "Finish him off Bellamy!" Sarquiss yelled.

Bellamy sped in for the final charge, all the acceleration he had built up fueling his power. "FAREWELL, STRAW HAT!"

Luffy punched Bellamy into the ground. An imprint of Luffy's fist was accented in Bellamy's left cheek. Hoshi stood, brushing herself off as Luffy's fist dripped with Bellamy's blood.

Luffy silently put his hat back onto his head.

"Oi oi Bellamy, quit it with the jokes," Sarquiss called. "C'mon… you're just playing around right?! Say something!! Bellamy! Bellamy!"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Hoshi roared, cracking her whip into his back. A gash opened from his right shoulder to his left hip. He fell without saying another word. Hoshi looked at the petrified Lily standing three meters away. She cracked her whip, breaking the sunglasses on Lily's nose cleanly in half. "If you're lucky, this is the last time we ever meet," Hoshi told her. "If I ever see you again, I swear… I'm going to kill you for taking my treasure." Both halves of the sunglasses fell to the boardwalk and shattered.

Hoshi turned her back on Lily and called to Luffy, "I've got the gold. We'd better hurry up and get back."

"Got it."

The two walked silently down the boardwalk, back the way they had come.

"WAIT!" Some of Bellamy's crew stood and raised their fists. "That was a lucky shot you two. Fight us! We won't loose to dream-chasing idiots like you! Oi! Where are you going?!"

Hoshi and Luffy stopped. "Where are we going, you ask?" Hoshi intoned.

The offenders yelled in terror and fell down. Hoshi and Luffy pointed upwards. "To the sky," they said simultaneously. Bellamy's crew members all fell down in disbelief. Ignoring them, Hoshi and Luffy started heading back to the ship.

Yeah! punches the air Bellemy's all beat up! Now are the Straw Hats going to make it to the sky in the morning?! Or will all their effort be for naught?


	13. The KnockUp Stream

Author's Note: At long last, the final chapter… sorry for making you wait Rivy-san, but since no one's reviewing (at all, have gotten ZERO new reviews since I last updated) thought I might just put this up for you…

It's a longer chapt, sorry 'bout that.

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece, get the point already

Chapter Thirteen: The Knock-Up Stream

Zoro looked in the direction Hoshi and Luffy had disappeared. What was taking them so long? The chill that he had hit him last night hadn't completely vanished from his system, making him worry about Hoshi. He shook his head irritably. _Damn… why should I care about what happens to her?_ he wondered.

"Are they back?!" Nami snapped, making Zoro jump.

"No, not yet."

"AUGH! They promised to be back 46 minutes ago!" Nami roared. "It's going to be THEIR fault if we don't make it to Sky Island after all this. The weight of the gold probably slowed them down… Luffy never calculates for things like this!"

"Since when does he calculate anything?" Usopp asked. The crew sweatdropped.

"That's true," Sanji muttered.

Cricket and the monkeys were waiting around, worrying.

"Maybe they got beat up in town?" Chopper asked hesitantly.

"If they DID loose, I'm going to kill them both myself when they get back!" Nami growled, a stress mark appearing on her forehead.

"What's up with you lately?" Zoro grumbled.

"GOT A PROBLEM WITH IT?"

"…no…"

"OIIII!! EVERYONE!!"

Everyone looked towards the sound of the voice. Hoshi was running, which explained why Zoro hadn't seen her flying earlier.

"Oh great! They made it back alive!" Masira celebrated.

"Hurry up you two! We're past due to sail!" Zoro called. Though his statement was directed towards the both of them, his eyes followed Hoshi's figure as she ran laughing up the coast…. _Damn_, he thought to himself. _It's like you were worried or something. Get a grip._

"We did it!" Hoshi and Luffy yelled. "Check it out!"

Luffy was holding up a large beetle. "It's Hercules!" he called. "Took us forever to find him!"

"A KABUTO BEETLE?!" Nami roared.

"YOU WENT TO FIND THAT?!" Usopp shouted.

Zoro noticed that Hoshi was cut in a couple of places, and there was a bruise on her cheek. "Did you get hurt?" he asked her.

"Nope, nothing big," Hoshi replied. "Just crashed into a wall, but that's about it."

Luffy and Hoshi stopped short when they saw the newly refitted Going Merry. With mixed reactions.

"AWESOME!" Luffy shouted, stars in his eyes.

Merry had been put back together, and had also been fitted with wooden wings stretching out for six meters on either side, a curved tail, and…

Hoshi's eyebrow twitched. "Merry's been turned… into a giant chicken…?"

"Going Merry, Flying Model!" Usopp proudly showed.

"IT'LL FLY?" Luffy asked, stars still in his eyes.

"YEAH!" Usopp said. "The Saruyama Alliance and their crews did it for us!"

"Whatever," Sanji muttered.

"I get a sense of impending doom when I look at it," Nami sighed.

"Guess you're right," Zoro agreed. "A pigeon would have looked more sky worthy than a chicken."

"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM, MORON!" Nami roared, punching him in the head. She seemed to be roaring a lot this morning.

"Chickens don't fly," Hoshi pointed out, confused. "You alright Zoro?" She put a band aid onto the monstrous bump that had risen on his head. He felt heat rising in his face at her touch, but Hoshi didn't seem to notice.

"Yosh! Now that our captain's here, let's go!" Usopp yelled. A roar of agreement swelled from the Allied Saruyama Forces.

Luffy put the sacks with the gold in it on the stump in front of Cricket's house. Hoshi watched as they Luffy and Cricket just stood there saying nothing for a minute.

"Hurry and get on your ship," Cricket finally said. "Do you want to miss your chance to get to Sky Island? Idiot."

"Yeah," Luffy grinned. "Thanks for the ship!"

Cricket jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to the monkeys' ships. "Thank them."

"Thank you all!" Luffy called. "You can have Hercules!"

"WE CAN!?" asked Shojo and Masira in disbelief.

Luffy nodded, grinning. "Yup!"

"YOU'RE SUCH A NICE GUY!"

"Luffy! Hurry up and get on the ship!" Hoshi called, sweatdropping slightly.

"Just follow us, we'll lead the way!" Masira yelled.

Hoshi looked back at Cricked. There was a shadow over his eyes, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. One hand clenched the sack, then he turned and yelled, "ALLIED SARUYAMA FORCES!"

"AYE?" the crews yelled back.

"You'd better not screw this one up! No matter what happens, give it your all for them! Get them to the sky!"

There was a moment of silence, then a roar of agreement. "AYE AYE!!"

Hoshi grinned. "Luffy! Get on the ship!"

Luffy grinned back up at her. He stretched an arm and pulled himself onto the ship. Landing, he thrust both fists into the air in triumph. "YOSHA!! LET'S GO!"

"AYE!" his crew responded. Nami started barking out orders, as usual, and at long last, the Merry set out on her journey to the sky.

"Hey you idiots!" Cricket roared. The crew paused a moment to listen to what he had to say. "This is where we part ways. One thing I want you guys to remember is that no one has proved that the City of Gold or Sky Island _doesn't _exist. You got me? It may defy the laws of reason, people may laugh at you for it… but who cares? That's what romance is all about!"

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded seriously.

"And kid… thanks for the gold."

Luffy grinned broadly. "Don't worry about it!"

The crew started to call out their last goodbyes.

"Thank you for everything, Cricket-san!" Nami screamed.

"Oyassan! I just KNOW the city of gold is real!" Usopp yelled.

"Take care Chestnut-ossan!" Hoshi shouted. The phoenix chimed in her mind, and after a second's hesitation, she called again, "The phoenix says bye too!"

Cricket's eyes widened.

"See ya Ossan!" Chopper called. "Don't overdo anything!"

"Mind your own business!" Cricket sat on the shore and dangled his feet into the water. "Phoenix… huh?" He pulled out a wanted poster from his back pocket and looked at it. It read

WANTED ALIVE

EXPERIMENT 413

REWARD: 250,000,000 BELI

Underneath was a nice large picture of a twelve-year-old Hoshi, a cut spilling blood down her cheek, her eyes murderous, and looking like the angel of death as her wings flared out behind her body. Cricket grinned. Those kids are in for a fun time, he thought to himself.

"Listen up!" Masira shouted once they were well out to sea. "It is now 7am! We'll probably arrive at our destination at about 11am! Like Oyassan said, the location of the Knock-Up Stream is different every time, so we need to get there and determine its location BEFORE it actually happens! Got it?"

"Yup," Nami called… the only one who had actually been listening. The rest of them were all gathered around the imprisoned Southbird. Luffy was kneeling down and staring at it curiously.

"Watch this!" he said. He turned the bird's long head to one side and held it there. When he let go, the bird's head snapped southward again. It croaked disdainfully at being treated like this.

"See, see, see? He turned back again!"

"Man, this is one strange bird," Usopp muttered.

Luffy laughed. "He really can't face any other way than south!"

Zoro groaned, and Hoshi chuckled. "He's a handsome bird though," she said pointedly.

Zoro looked at the bird. It wasn't what he'd really call handsome… it had an overlarge beak with horribly mixed purple and green feathers. Its head was really long, and it had some sort of yellow crest on its head. "If you say so…" he said uncertainly.

"It's funny!" Luffy laughed.

_JIYO!_ the bird cried. _Jiyo jiyo jiyo ji-jiyoo, ji-jo jiyo jiyo jiyo jyio!_

"Oi, Chopper, what'd he say?" Usopp asked.

Chopper translated, "'I'll look some way other than south and throw you jerks off course!'"

"I dare you!" Luffy told it, grinning evily.

The bird made a smug sound, and turned its head.

"Oh. It faced north!" Hoshi pointed out.

The bird started to sweat. _Jiyooooo…_ It started to tremble, and then he its head turned back south. Luffy and Hoshi roared with laughter.

"It's… it's not comfortable unless it faces s-south!" Hoshi gasped.

"OI YOU ALL LISTEN TO ME!" Masira roared.

"It's fine, it'll be fine!" Luffy called up. "It's too hard to go around worrying about everything! We'll just take it easy!"

"And who was it that made us late again?" Sanji asked, kicking one foot on his captain's head.

"But he's right," Shojo pointed out. "It's too hard to sail tensed up for four hours."

"Then everyone! Let's just take it easy and relax at full speed!" Masira called.

"Aye…" his crew responded.

Hoshi stopped laughing and stretched. "I'm going to fly around for a bit, that okay everyone?" she asked.

"Sure, go ahead! We've got some time to kill," Luffy responded with a grin.

Hoshi pulled out her wings and took a running start across the deck. She vaulted over the newly-added tail of the Going Merry, and was airborne.

Watching her gain altitude and flying, mingling with the clouds, it was suddenly much easier to kick back and relax. Zoro lay down and stretched out onto the deck to get a better view. Hoshi's whoop of ecstasy reached his ears, and he grinned as she did a few loop-the-loops. She suddenly went into a steep dive, then sharply banked and skimmed the waves before going back ten… twenty… thirty… forty meters into the sky. The monkeys and their crews cheered and whistled in admiration as she put on a spectacular airshow.

After a few hours, a yell suddenly pierced the lazy silence. "BOSS! We've got a problem!"

"What is it?" Masira demanded, running to see.

"The Cumelorgalis cloud has appeared to the southwest!"

"What time is it?"

"10am! Much earlier than we expected!"

"SHOJO! Send your divers out to find that current!"

"I know!" Shojo yelled back. "Wooton Divers! Get into the water and find that current!"

Hoshi touched down onto the ship and pulled in her wings. "You guys might want to hold your ears," she warned grimly.

Confusion met this sentence until Shojo started screeching into his microphone, then everyone hurried to clap their hands over their ears. One of the divers came back up. "Echo confirmed!" he yelled. "Strong ocean current at 3'o clock!"

Another diver surfaced. "A large sea creature at 9'o clock! It might be a Sea King!"

"Wave opposing the current flow at 10'o clock! There could be a whirlpool!"

"That's it!" Masira shouted. "Yosh everyone! All ships turn to 10'o clock! Find that whirlpool and don't back out! That's where the explosion's gonna be!"

There was a sudden flurry of movement as everyone hurried to get the Going Merry to the place where the whirlpool was going to be.

Suddenly, the ship dropped sharply, and the waves began to grow much bigger. Everyone… except Robin… stumbled and tried to keep their balance. Hoshi was thrown into the air, but Zoro saved her by grabbing her hand.

"Th-thanks," she stuttered, clinging to his arm as the ship dropped again.

"No problem," Zoro said. As the ship leveled out, they quickly dove for the banister to have something solid to hold on to.

"CAREFUL! The waves are getting rougher!" Shojo shouted.

"Don't we know it?" Hoshi growled as she clung to the banister. The phoenix was acting weird… it was stirring around and giving off irritated little notes. Calm down, she told it. We're going to be okay.

_Someone's coming_, the phoenix answered. Hoshi instantly scanned the surrounding waters. Ignoring the phoenix had done no good for her nakama last time.

"THE EXPLOSION'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN! STAY ALERT!" Masira roared.

"Kokaishi-san! What does the Log Post say?" Robin asked, holding onto the banister with one hand. You'd think that she was at a dinner party by her attitude.

"It's pointing straight at that cloud!" Nami called over the roar of the wind.

"Sky Island's up there!" Luffy yelled gleefully.

Two lines flew from Masira's ship and latched onto the Going Merry. "We're going to pull you into the whirlpool's current!" Masira yelled. "Once you're in, go straight towards the center of the whirlpool and don't back out!"

"Yosh, got it!" Luffy said, giving the monkey a thumb's up.

Hoshi looked out over the sea. An impossibly big whirlpool was forming, as big as the turtle they had met the other day. "What the hell…" she muttered. Zoro couldn't read the expression on her face… until she started laughing like crazy. "What the hell! I have the luck to join the craziest crew alive!" she laughed. She grabbed the rigging and climbed up like a little monkey till she was perched on the mast.

"THIS HUGE WHIRLPOOL?!" Usopp yelled.

"He never said we had to go INTO it!" Nami shrieked.

"Don't worry Nami-san! Robin-chan! Hoshi-chan! I'll protect you all!" Sanji sang over the roaring wind.

Chopper had stars in his eyes as he imagined the Going Merry being popped into the air by a little geyser.

"STOPPITSTOPPITSTOPPIT!" Usopp moaned.

"Give it up Usopp," Zoro elbowed him in the stomach. "A couple of us are already riding high."

"YAHOO! SKY ISLAND HERE WE COME!" Luffy shouted.

"SKY ISLAND!" Hoshi whooped. She had pulled out her wings and was coasting the wind while hanging onto the mast with two hands.

Their shouting was cut short as the Sea King erupted from the water not five meters from the ship… and even it was unable to stand up to the power of the whirlpool. It was sucked away. Silence on the ship.

"Yosh! This is as far as we go! You guys handle yourselves from here on in!" the monkeys yelled.

Luffy waved. "Thanks for bringing us here!"

Nami and Usopp and Chopper all fell down.

"The whirlpool's sucking us even further in," Robin observed.

"Oi Luffy!" Usopp said, crying. "We should pull out! We can still make it!"

"Yeah yeah, that's right!" Nami agreed. "This is certain death! Sky Island's just a dream within a dream!"

"A dream within a dream?" Luffy asked.

"Yes!" both Nami and Usopp nodded fervently.

Luffy turned slowly to look at the two of them… and he had stars shining in his eyes. "I could never pass up an adventure like this!"

"H-he's… having fun…" Usopp said in disbelief.

Hoshi roared with laughter above. She pulled in her wings and shimmied down the mast, as jumping down would be just asking to be pulled off the ship at this speed.

"Hey while you idiots were whining…" Zoro said. "We've entered the whirlpool."

The ship plunged over the edge. "WE'RE FALLING!" Usopp screamed.

"No we're not," Hoshi said.

Confusion broke out on board. "Where'd the whirlpool go!? It's vanished!!"

And so it had. The Going Merry was sitting on a calm and placid sea… as if the whirlpool had never existed to begin with.

Nami felt a slight rumble beneath her feet, and suddenly understood what had happened. "T-the whirlpool reached the sea floor."

"You don't mean…" Usopp started trembling violently.

"HOLD IT!!" someone roared.

A ship looking like it was made of tied-together logs came into view. Hoshi felt a cold shiver run up her back, and the phoenix trilled softly on a minor note. These were the people.

"Straw Hat Luffy! Roranora Zoro! Experiment 413! I've come to claim the bounty on all your heads!"

"Ah! That's the guy from Mock Town!" Nami exclaimed.

"It's the cherry-pie ossan," Hoshi commented.

"Straw Hat Luffy! Your bounty's 100 million, did you know that now? Roranora Zoro! You are now 60 million! Experiment 413! You are 250 million! Give yourselves up now!"

"My head?" Luffy asked. "Whaddya mean 100 million? I'm 30 million!"

"So you guys didn't know!" the man held up three wanted posters in one hand. "These are the new wanted post- ah! What the hell!"

A strong wind had blown the papers out of his hand and brought them to the hands of the waiting Hoshi. "It's true," she said, handing Zoro and Luffy their wanted posters. Her face fell as she looked at hers. 250 million? The government must want me back real bad, she thought sadly.

"I see… they must have went up because of what we did in Arabasta…" Nami murmured.

"Wha-hoooo!" Luffy celebrated. "100 million!"

"I have to admit I'm a little disappointed," Zoro grinned.

"QUIT ENJOYING THIS YOU TWO!!" Nami roared.

Hoshi quietly shred her wanted poster to shreds, her eyes hidden under her hair.

Suddenly, the sea started bulging upwards where the Going Merry was.

"It's started!" Sanji yelled.

"Everyone! Hang onto something really tight, or get into the cabin!" Zoro yelled. "Hoshi! That includes you!"

Hoshi just stood there, staring at the scraps of paper in her hands. She blew them away, even as the ship continued to raise even higher. "HOSHI!" Zoro roared.

Hoshi seemed to come back to earth. She ran for the rigging and held on tight.

"THE SEA'S GONNA EXPLODE!" Chopper screamed.

Then… the sea did explode. A colossal column of water shot towards the sky with a tremendous roar.

"What… what the hell's going on!? The ship's sailing right up the surface of the water!" Usopp yelled.

"This is the coolest thing ever!" Luffy and Hoshi shouted simultaneously.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" screamed Nami.

Everything on the ship had turned sideways. Robin, Sanji, and Zoro just stood on the wall around the cabin door as if this was perfectly normal. Hoshi flowed with the wind, hanging from the rigging with two hands. She was laughing.

"Wind…" Nami muttered.

Luffy hung on to the red thing sticking up from Merry's head. "GO MERRY!" he roared.

"It's not gonna be that easy!" Sanji yelled.

"What? Did we forget something?" Luffy asked.

"The hull's starting to come loose! We're gonna be thrown off the surface of the water if we don't do something soon!" Sanji shouted.

"UNFURL THE SAILS, RIGHT NOW!" Nami yelled. Everyone looked at her and made sounds of confusion.

"What are you talking about?!" Zoro asked in disbelief.

"Do you have another fever?" Chopper inquired.

"This is an ocean! Not just some vertically moving column of water! The wind pushing us up it was caused by geothermal heat and steam! And if this is an ocean, it can be navigated!" Nami smiled confidently. "Who is this ship's navigator?"

Everyone grinned as they realized what she was talking about. "IT'S NAMI-SAN!" Sanji sang.

"Someone man the rudder and get us in line with the current! Unfurl the sails! Catch the wind coming from starboard!" Nami barked.

"AYE!"

Sanji grabbed the rudder, and Hoshi scrambled sideways up the rigging and untied the sails. Zoro caught the sails and attached them with Robin's help.

"Nami! The hull's still rising off the water!" Chopper panicked. "Do something Nami! Nami! We're not gonna make it!"

"No… we'll make it." Nami's eyes burned with fire.

What happened next was incredibly astounding, unbelievable, yet…

"SO COOL!" Luffy roared. "THE SHIP'S FLYING!"

"AMAZING!" Hoshi screamed, laughing in delight. "CHICKENS FLY!!!"

Usopp's eyes were so wide, the veins were throbbing around his cornea. "Is… is this for real?!"

Zoro grinned. Robin smiled as Chopper screamed in terror.

Sanji had a HUGE heart in his eye. "NAMI-SAN! YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL!! AND I LOVE YOU!!!!"

"Nami!" Luffy yelled. "Are we really going to make it to Sky Island?"

Suddenly the ship fell quiet as they waited for the answer.

"If it really exists, it's just beyond that cloud!" Nami called, pointing up.

"Above the clouds… I wonder what we'll find there!" Luffy yelled. "I CAN'T WAIT!!"

Hoshi walked down the mast and jumped next to Zoro. A sudden gust of wind almost knocked her off her feet, but Zoro grabbed her around her waist before she fell.

"Be careful," he told her. "You alright?"

Hoshi suddenly flushed. "Yeah… I'm fine," she hurriedly said. She stood up, though her knees refused to work against the G-force and she leaned on Zoro for support. He blushed a bit. They met each other's eyes and grinned, then looked up at the sky.

Hoshi balanced herself and figured some things out. It was for moments like this that the crew chose to follow the craziest guy in the world. As for the phoenix… Hoshi was getting excited, looking forward to getting to know it.

_I'm a 'she'!_ the phoenix cut in, listening.

Oh, sorry, Hoshi apologized. What do you think we'll find? she asked. The phoenix didn't answer for a second, then chimed a note full of happiness and excitement.

_Adventures!_

Good enough answer, Hoshi grinned, as Merry continued to fly to the clouds.

The End

Sequel: Adventures in the Sky

Look for it!

Look for it!


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